


Quarry

by thundercracer



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Stalking, Suspense, a bit darker, i wanted to try my hand at writing something kind of true crime related, only tagging the more important characters, rated t for now because there's nothing explicitly graphic or anything, the relationship isn't the main focus of the fic either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-09-25 22:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20379274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercracer/pseuds/thundercracer
Summary: Maruyama Aya is slowly, but surely, rising in the ranks of Japan's idol base. Pastel*Palettes has plenty of attention on them and plenty of fans supporting them. However... some of these fans may not know when to draw the line. Aya finds herself face to face with an idol's nightmare.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'll just start this out by saying a few things;
> 
> 1.) I've never written anything like this before in my life. I'm super into true crime and darker themes like this and wanted to try my hand at it, myself. I've always wanted to write a proper suspense fic, so hopefully this came out well! I would love feedback on it, but please keep in mind this is largely experimental for me and my writing. 
> 
> 2.) I love Aya and never want anything bad to happen to her. That being said, I thought this fic concept was super interesting and wanted to see if I could do a good job with it. I also tend to write a lot of my fave characters in angsty situations so... sorry about that. 
> 
> 3.) I changed a couple of things around in this fic, or at least made my own decisions in regards to classes and such. So Aya, Rinko, and Sayo are all in a class together because I said so.
> 
> 4.) While this fic is not graphic by any means, it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Completely understandable! It may have some triggers in it if you are personally upset by situations like this; that being said, I feel I've given a fair warning of what's to come. I will keep it as a T rating for now just because I don't think anything about the fic particularly warrants an M rating. If others disagree and think it should have an M instead, please feel free to let me know! 
> 
> All this being said - and hopefully I didn't miss anything - I truly hope you guys enjoy this one. It was a challenge to write, but I'm really glad I stuck with it.

Dreaming was something Aya had always been familiar with. Every person’s destiny started with a simple wish. A simple desire. She’d dreamt for years that her idol career would take off. Of course, being successful was a huge goal… Not many people were able to make it very far, in this industry. But inspiring others and making people smile would always be her first and foremost priority. Aya wanted to give people hopes and dreams and aspirations; just like the idols she adored had done for her throughout her young, blossoming childhood.

Dreams and reality always end up being quite different things, though. Getting started was one of the most difficult things Aya had ever been through. Years of intensive training and dedication proved her efforts were worth it. She’d finally been put in a group! The other girls were all super cute and she couldn’t be happier or more excited! It was finally her time! A real idol debut was in her near future!

And then they were told their theme was to “play” instruments. 

While Aya wasn’t one of the others who now had instruments tied to their images, she was still nervous. Knowing that most of these girls hadn’t ever _ touched _ an instrument before, aside from Maya, the amount of pressure was already doubled for them. And while Hina picked up guitar like no one’s business, the rest of them were all going to need a lot of work. 

Despite their first live being a total train wreck, Pastel*Palettes managed to pull their career back up! Aya’s outright devotion to the group was what saved them, the others would praise. Aya just saw herself doing what anyone else would. It was just in her nature; no way was she going to let one stumble keep her long awaited dream from coming true.

After the dust seemed to settle, Pastel*Palettes was doing better than ever. They had sold out live shows all over - no longer constrained to small venues. They were stadium fillers now! They were on talk shows and dramas all the time and their schedules were packed.

Sure, it was stressful being a celebrity all while still being in high school, but the five of them all managed to juggle both worlds rather well. And, of course, Aya always felt the love and support from their fans. With that, it was possible for Aya to get through the tougher days, knowing she was accomplishing her dreams and making others smile. 

The thought itself made _ her _ smile as she walked the steps towards her school, another early morning of learning ahead. She could do this! If she could sing for a stadium of thousands, she could ace her math test!

“Hi! Aya-senpai!” Kasumi’s voice called as the younger girl finished up around her locker and made her way past, the rest of Poppin’ Party in tow. “Good morning!”

“Morning!” she greeted in turn, offering her underclassmen a smile as she meandered to her own locker. “Good luck on your English assignment, Kasumi-chan!”

“Egh!” Judging by Kasumi’s reaction, she obviously hadn’t studied. Her suspicions were almost immediately confirmed by Arisa, the prickly girl suddenly lashing out and demanding to know if Kasumi had made _ any _ progress. It was very likely that Arisa - the poor thing - had already had this conversation with Kasumi, at _ least _ once. 

Aya giggled to herself, wishing for the best for the poor girls. 

_ Lively as always! _ she thought, still able to hear their bickering as the girls made a steady pace away from her.

Being in her third and final year of high school, she was rather looked up to by the rest of the school. Particularly the underclassmen. Well known for her loving, warm personality, the younger girls tended to flock to her for advice. Or just someone to confide in. Though, she knew some of them were her fans as well. It was so sweet!

Chisato liked to worry that Aya took on too much by allowing herself to be so open to other people. Aya couldn’t help it though; she was so receptive to others, even when it was sometimes a bad thing. Aya also didn’t feel good about turning away her underclassmen looking for advice or comfort, either. 

Aya, for one, found it very uplifting that she was seen as some sort of beacon of warmth and kindness to others. That she was so easily approachable was a very good thing, as an idol, she reasoned. 

Aya’s smile turned into a confused frown as she opened the small door to her locker.

_ An envelope? _

A love letter?

No. It couldn’t be… it wasn’t one of those cute little envelopes with hearts or anything like that. She’d gotten a handful of _ those _, over the past two years. This was a large, almost portfolio-sized folder. One of those pronged manila folders that she’d seen her father store work documents in his office. Hard to imagine someone at an all girls school turning in such an odd love letter… 

_ How strange… _

She heard the warning bell go off. _ Oh no! _

Quickly, she shoved the envelope into her school bag, not really able to think too hard on it for the time being. She couldn’t be late again! Sayo would be so angry if Aya walked in through that door more than a second late. 

“Safe!” she called as she made it to her seat, minutes left before the final bell rang. She giggled at Sayo’s put-off expression. 

“Maruyama-san,” she barely bothered with a greeting, going right into lecture mode, “you wouldn’t be at risk of being late so often if you simply left for school sooner.”

“But, Sayo-chan!” Aya protested. “I was on time!”

_ Boo… I thought I would get off without being scolded today… _

“Yes,” Sayo agreed. “This time.”

Aya pouted, but it didn’t last before she shot Sayo a cheery smile. “Yup! I can be grateful for that!”

Sayo sighed, but Aya detected just the faintest hint of a smile. After two years of being in the same class as Sayo - as well as the same amount of time of being in a band with the girl’s twin sister - gave her a good amount of “Sayo Experience Points”, as she liked to call them. She wasn’t an expert by any means, but she considered herself rather adept at knowing when Sayo was amused. And that teeny-tiny little quirk of Sayo’s upper lip told Aya all she needed to know.

“How have things been with Pastel*Palettes, by the way?” Sayo asked, in a rare display of casualty, standing by Aya’s seat. 

“Really good!” Aya said, enthusiastic. Chipper. She was always delighted when she was able to converse with Sayo, like this. “We’re having another live show at the end of the month, if you wanted to come.”

Sayo sighed. “Hina’s only invited me about twenty times.” She cracked a smile. “I finally gave in and told her I’d go. It was the only way to get her to stop.”

Aya laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like her!”

“Hasn’t it been stressful?” Sayo suddenly looked unsettled. She knew that Pastel*Palettes had gotten very popular over their two years of being active. Hina said that Aya wasn’t always the best at dealing with it. “Hina’s been worried.”

“Oh,” Aya blinked, surprised, “I’ve been doing peachy. I wonder why she’s worried…?” Aya didn’t think she’d ever _ given _ Hina a reason to be concerned. “If something was wrong, I’d tell the other girls. She knows that.”

“Yes…” Sayo didn’t push further.

“Anyways, how are things with Roselia?” Aya asked. She truly enjoyed the other band and the girls in it. She considered all of the bands she knew to be some of her closest friends. Even if there were twenty five girls total in those five bands. More the merrier, she’d say. “Hina-chan told me you guys have a show coming up too! Another self sponsored one?”

“Yes.” Sayo twirled her hair, long and teal, around her fingers. Aya couldn’t help but think about how soft it looked. “Imai-san is taking care of the beginning preparations for the time being. Minato-san and I have been focusing on the music.”

“Oooh!” Aya enthused. “New stuff?”

“Perhaps.”

Aya giggled, knowing she wouldn’t get any extra hints out of Sayo. Unlike Hina, she knew when to give Sayo a break, so she relented.

It was then that the final bell went off, snapping the girls to attention. Sayo scuttled over to her seat, seemingly embarrassed that she had only just sat down as their homeroom teacher entered the classroom. 

\---

Aya breathed out a sigh of relief as she settled on the rooftop for lunch. It was one of those rare days where she wanted a moment to herself. 

Normally she would hunt down Chisato and Kanon and enjoy her lunch with them. Maybe even Kasumi and the others to hear the latest gossip of the other years. She’d tried having lunch with Sayo before, too, but the other girl was always busy with student council activities so she was usually out of luck with that one. 

But today was just not one of those days.

Classes seemed to drag on and, while Aya was usually a pretty optimistic girl, she was still a teenager. A _ busy _ teenager at that. Not that she could complain about the bustling lifestyle that her band’s success brought her, but still. It was bound to take its toll in one way or another, considering that her life tended to be a whirlwind flurry of activity. . 

Aya was certainly grateful for the life she had. The friends she had. The career she had. But, there were parts of her that wondered what it would be like to just be a normal girl. She’d been one for so long, before, but she was already starting to forget what it felt like. 

Of course, the agency encouraged them to focus on their schoolwork and their social lives were allowed to exist - they were still minors, after all. But she supposed all the years of training leading up to this never could have properly prepared her for how intense being an idol was. 

She loved every second of it! This was Aya’s dream, after all.

Smiling, she remembered the envelope she found in her locker that morning. 

Glance to the right, no one was there. Glance to the left, still no one. Well! There was no time like the present to check it out! 

Aya twisted open the top of the manila envelope and slid out the contents. 

She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. 

Then it fully registered.

A pile of printed photos were in her lap. Some were very blurry. Others were clear as day. The majority of them were from a very far distance. Others were just the tiniest bit closer. But they all had something in common. _ They were all of _ ** _her_ **. 

“W-wha-”

Aya’s blood felt like it turned to ice as she felt a chill run down her spine, her gut twisting with panic. 

These weren’t photos available from shoots the band had done. These were not magazine covers or posed, planned pictures. They were all candid. And… even more horrifying… some were of her at school. Walking home. Out at a cafe with a friend. _ Some were of her in the window of her bedroom in her house. _

She felt tears prick at her eyes as she was beginning to panic. Her chest seized in that uncomfortably familiar way as her breathing wavered. 

A single piece of printer paper peeked out from beneath the pile. With shaking, unstable hands, she pulled it out and read what it had to say.

_ Dearest Aya, _

_ I truly hope you enjoy my present to you! These are a nice chunk of my collection; very precious, I’ll have you know. I’ve been such a big fan and supporter of you and your band for a very long time now! Truthfully, I’ve found you stunning since you were in your training days. I simply couldn’t keep my adoration to myself any longer. Please look forward to hearing from me again! I’ll look forward to seeing you around… _

_ ~ a secret admirer _

Aya’s heart rate soared, and not in a good way. Her breathing picked up, as she stared at the paper, distressed. 

_ A stalker!? _

She shook her head, trying to calm herself. No! It must have just been a normal fan! A… normal fan… who knew where she went to school and where she lived. And took an alarming amount of pictures of her without her permission… 

_ Oh! Maybe it’s just a prank from the other band members! _ Her face scrunched with displeasure at the thought, wiping away a tear that had escaped. It wasn’t a very nice joke, but she could see Hina corralling the others into something like this. _ Surely, that must be it _ … she thought. She _ hoped _. 

Aya calmed her breathing and shoved all the pictures roughly into the folder again. She stuffed it in her backpack, abrupt, without another glance and quickly tried to compose herself as the warning bells for class began to ring, once more. 

She skittered over to her desk immediately once she reached her classroom, offering a shaky smile to Sayo as her classmate sent her a concerned frown in turn. Well, whether it was concerned or disapproving, Aya couldn’t entirely tell. Perhaps she was simply self projecting. 

But, rather than linger on the unpleasantness that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, she pushed it all to the very back of her mind and thrust herself into putting all her focus into the math equations and English problems presented to them on the blackboard for the rest of the day. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is enjoying this so far! I'm gonna be aiming to update this every Friday, roughly.   
Be sure to let me know what you think! I adore reading comments from you guys~

Aya let herself relax into her previous schedule without thinking  _ too _ hard about the pictures. It wouldn’t be healthy to let it consume her. Especially considering that it was more than less likely a harmless prank. So, with a few adjustments - keeping her bedroom curtains closed at all times, to name one - she fell back into her regular routine. 

Practice, training, school, homework, concerts, lives, talk shows, TV appearances; you name it. She continued it all, a smile on her face, just like always. Her energy and enthusiasm knew no bounds, after all. Aya encouraged her bandmates in all of their activities and kept the group surging ahead at a strong rate. 

Though, admittedly, she had tried to do a bit of detective work with her friends. Aya decided to try her hand, hinting at the pictures to her bandmates to see if she could get a reaction from them. Perhaps to get them to admit they’d been the ones to play such a joke on her. Internally begging that it was someone she knew.

“So have any of you guys been thinking about picking up photography?” she asked one day, a teasing smile in place, as they wrapped up their music lessons for the day.

All there was in response were confused glances from Maya and Chisato, before Eve and Hina became excited at the prospect of picking up a new hobby, their previous conversation dissolving into chittering about pictures they liked. So Aya had no choice but to laugh it off and hope it was just the others keeping to their joke to scare her. 

Though she had to wonder why none of them had hinted at it to see if she’d been freaked out…

She quickly decided to put that behind her; they’d all been doing so well! No need to let something like this impact her so heavily. 

Until she stood in front of her locker once more, another daunting cream colored folder innocently resting atop of her school shoes. 

It had been weeks since the first one. But, this time, Aya felt a jolt along her spine as opposed to the childish curiosity that had naively enraptured her before. She felt a tug at her gut telling her this wouldn’t be good. After all, there wasn’t the same - naive - conviction that it was the doing of Hina and the others, at this point. 

She slipped the folder into her bag silently, cautiously - as to not draw unnecessary attention to herself. And, just like last time, she continued her day. Greeting her classmates normally. Making normal smalltalk. Paying attention to class normally. Going up to the rooftop for lunch by herself, not normally. 

After making sure she was truly alone, Aya held her school bag tentatively in her lap. Aya barely had an appetite at all as she opted to sate her curiosity rather than tend to her lunch - hands trembling ever so slightly as they went to take the folder out of her bag. 

The same sort of pictures poured out from it.

Even though she’d been keeping an eye out, she clearly hadn’t been able to properly catch the culprit in the act, whoever they were. 

_ Maybe they’re old pictures… no. I wore that outfit last week…  _ She chewed her fingernail nervously.  _ This is  _ ** _bad_ ** . 

Then she caught sight of another letter. The same handwriting as the first one. 

_ Aya, my love, _

_ I’ve been seeing you looking about quite a bit lately… are you becoming jumpy? Are you searching for me, perhaps? I would be overjoyed if that were true… I would love it if you were to look at me for once, just as I gaze upon you. Though… I must admit my sadness that you decided to close your curtains. But I understand your caution. Such a smart girl! No wonder I fell for you~ Until next time, my dearest, _

_ Your biggest fan <3 _

Aya nearly curled in on herself, willing away the sudden urge to vomit. Her eyes were wide open with fear. This situation was  _ much _ worse than she’d originally thought. She had to tell her managers - there was no way she couldn’t. 

_ But… the others… _

Aya fervently shook her head. The others could be in danger, too, if she kept silent! Sure, it seemed like this person was solely focused on Aya… but what if it only  _ seemed  _ that way. The others hadn’t said anything about something similar going on with them; but Aya hadn’t been saying anything either. So that didn’t mean a whole lot. 

This person also seemed to know where she lived. What if her family would be in danger, if she blabbed? Of course the letters never  _ said _ there would be consequences if she told anyone about them-

“I have to tell the managers… at the very least…”

Yet… she could never find the courage to. 

Weeks went by... and she couldn’t bring herself to say a single thing to anyone. Not about the pictures. Not about the letters. Nothing. 

Everytime she went to open her mouth, every time she went to say something, she felt her throat constrict and her mouth closed, silent once more. 

She knew it was cowardly… that it was silly of her and stupid that she was keeping this sort of a thing all to herself. She knew it was downright  _ dangerous _ . But…

… she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

Not when she arrived to practice and saw the playful, light, carefree smiles and attitudes of her friends. The way the managers and trainers optimistically cheered on the future success of the band. None of them were concerned or upset about anything. Everything was going so well. 

And if Aya told them what was going on behind the scenes, that serenity could all come crashing down. And it would be all  _ her  _ fault. 

So, she kept it close to her chest as opposed to wearing her heart on her sleeve, as she tended to. 

Aya wasn’t slow, though. Neither were her bandmates. She knew they’d be suspicious of her sudden change in behavior; and they were. Chisato and Hina at the very least were always very adept at noticing when things were off. Chisato was just all around sharp, while Hina was very pattern and routine oriented. If they noticed, they were probably worried about her new jumpy behavior. But she couldn’t help it. She kept envisioning a figure - a shadow - in her peripheral. Just a phantom chasing her in the back of her subconscious, camera in hand. 

But, she fought hard to shove those feelings deep down. So deeply that she prayed no one could see them. And, instead, she listened to the meeting that was going on, fidgeting with her hands nervously, her body unable to contain the tense energy that engulfed her. 

“So!” one of her managers, Aiko, was saying, “I think it would be a good move to do a sort of meet and greet event soon. Like a handshake event or something. What do you girls think?”

“Oohhh!” Eve seemed to get excited as Hina’s eyes twinkled in that way they did when she was going to experience something new. “Like… we just shake hands with people?”

“That’s the general idea,” the manager agreed, a slight lilt of laughter in her voice. “But the fans get a minute or so to just sort of chat and say hi.”

Chisato gave Aya a side glance. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Aya’s heart rate picked up.  _ Why did Chisato-chan just look at me…? _

“Oh?” Aiko also seemed confused. “Do you have any hesitations, Chisato?”

“Hmm,” Chisato rested a thoughtful fingertip against the bud of her chin. Her sharp eyes, almost analytical, were level with their manager. “Well… fans can be a bit much nowadays, can’t they? Especially idol fans. Don’t you think an event like this could possibly be dangerous? Stalkers are rather common now.”

Aya’s heart nearly stopped. She thought she’d been doing such a good job keeping her problems to herself-

“I can only be thankful none of us have experienced one,” Chisato continued. “But…”

“Y-yeah…” Aya murmured in agreement. 

“That would definitely be scary,” Maya chipped in. “But… I think it would be a good move! Stuff like this really motivates the fans, right? They like the whole ‘connectivity’ thing, don’t they?”

“There’s our Maya!” the manager cheered. “They certainly do! And I really think it would be a good, fresh way to circulate some interest in the group! Of course they love the music… but they also love you girls just as much. If not more, that is. Your personalities, your charm.”

_ The way you look in your bedroom window- _

“I suppose you’re correct…” Chisato relented.

Hina and Eve were practically bouncing in their seats. “It sounds like it’ll be suuuper fun!” Hina said. “I hope lots of people come, it’ll be buzzin’!”

Aya felt an impending sense of dread. 

The months before the event swiftly dwindled into weeks. Tickets were sold out just days after the news was released on their social media accounts. They were going to be meeting with hundreds of fans. 

With only two weeks left before the event, it also seemed to be the talk of their schools, as well as her classmates. A few of them surrounded her desk, asking about the event and how she was feeling about it. 

“I’m sure it’s gotta be tough,” one girl was sympathizing with her. “Having to meet a bunch of creepy nerd dudes and pretending to be ‘oh-so-happy’ to see them all day long.”

“Oh!” Aya shook her head. “It’s not that bad! A lot of our fans are actually girls, you know.”

A different girl sighed deeply. “Yeah, but the majority are still guys aren’t they?”

“Yeah…”

“So,” the first girl put a hand on Aya’s shoulder, “you should be careful. These creepy men will do literally anything to be close to their favorite idol.”

Aya felt the hairs along her arms and neck raise, against her will, as picture after picture of herself came to mind. 

“I’ll… be sure to do that. Thank you!”

“Would you please stop frightening Maruyama-san,” a new voice interrupted the conversation. “She looks like she just saw a ghost. What are you saying to her?”

“Sayo-chan?”

Sayo looked at their classmates, a disapproving expression clear on her face. She seemed so… defensive? Protective? Aya didn’t know the right word to explain it, but she also didn’t know why Sayo seemed quite so upset. 

“Oh, Hikawa-san. I wasn’t meaning to scare her,” the first girl explained, “but you have to admit some idol fans are really intense. It’s good to be cautious of that stuff, even if they’re your supporters.”

“Yeah, yeah!” the second girl agreed. “They don’t always have the best intentions at heart.”

“Yes, well,” Sayo glanced down at Aya, her expression still unreadable, “that certainly may be true. But Maruyama-san is probably already nervous before such a big event. There’s no need to startle her when she is already undergoing stress. Now then, if you may excuse us. I needed to speak to Maruyama-san about something. In private.”

The two girls scowled before bidding Aya farewell and shooting Sayo scathing looks as they headed out, probably to buy or eat lunch, leaving Sayo and Aya the only ones in the classroom.

Aya pouted somewhat. “Sayo-chan, they really were just thinking about my safety-”

“Is there a reason your safety would ever be in jeopardy?” Sayo shot out, swiftly cutting Aya off. “Should you not have top notch security at this event? Bodyguards? Cameras?”

“Well, yeah-”

“If not, that would lead me to assume that your agency is incapable of hiring the proper level of support and protection over their idols. Is that the case?” 

“N-no! Of course not!”

“Then why did you look quite so terrified when they began speaking of obsessive fans? Do you truly think one of them would try anything?”

“I… don’t think so.”

“Is Hina in danger?”

As far as Aya knew, no.

“She shouldn’t be, no.”

“Are  _ you _ in danger?”

_ Oh… that was different. _

“I… definitely hope not!” she tried to say, her tone light and a lilted chuckle towards the end.  _ I probably just sound crazy…  _

Sayo narrowed her eyes. 

“I certainly hope not, as well. I have been…” Sayo suddenly blushed and averted her gaze. “I have been quite worried about you, you know.”

“O-oh?” Aya’s cheeks warmed, Sayo’s embarrassed expression catching her off guard. “Why is that?”

“You’ve been acting odd lately,” Sayo said, causing Aya to jolt. “See. Just like that. Very… on edge, I suppose. It’s… it’s not like you. Is something wrong?”

“Oh… you know… just nerves about the event-”

“But you’ve been like this since before then.”

_ Gah! These Hikawa twins are too attentive… _

“I have? Huh… maybe I need a break! Ahaha…” she joked, not quite finding it in herself to meet Sayo’s piercing gaze. She was a coward, unable to mingle into the sharpness of the gold that lay within them. 

“... Perhaps rest is due,” Sayo agreed. “I want you to take care of yourself, Maruyama-san. I’ll have Hina keep an eye on you during the event, to make sure everything goes well.”

“Ah, she doesn’t need to do that! We already have so many staff workers doing that-!”

“Then what’s one more?” Sayo crossed her arms, defiant. Aya knew there was no talking her out of it - she was just like Hina in that regard. Stubborn as can be. “Hina will be closer to you, so she should be able to notice any particularly strange behavior. Still, be careful.”

“Of course… thank you, Sayo-chan.”

Aya tried not to look too deeply into the blush she received as a response. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited handshake event~

Before she knew it, the day of the event was right around the corner. It was going to be held on the weekend, as to not conflict with any of the girls’ school schedules. They  _ did _ still have classes the day before, unfortunately. But that was just life.

The conversation she’d had with Sayo replayed itself over and over again in her mind. The amount of concern Sayo had shown her was enough to make Aya blush. But it also didn’t hinder the already churning storm of doubt and worry that she’d been concealing behind the fluffy clouds of her exterior. 

_ “Still… be careful.” _

Clearly, Sayo had shared her concerns with her sister, seeing as Hina had, since then, declared she would protect Aya. Though she did it playfully, thinking her sister was overreacting and being a “worry wart”. Aya laughed along with her, putting her friends at ease a little too easily. 

Sayo’s worried stare and her friends’ unsuspecting atmosphere at the forefront of her thoughts, she stood in front of her locker once more. She’d begun to dread this part of her day. While Aya only actually had gotten two envelopes, so far, the possibility of receiving another one was more than enough to make her panic slightly. She’d started to mentally connect her locker with negative emotions, too. Something so simple seemed so malicious now… 

And, as she opened her locker, it seemed she had every reason to be anxious that morning. However… as opposed to the first two packages, this was just a single white envelope. It felt lighter and Aya could immediately tell there were no piles of photographs in there - a single, light item. Somehow this was more intimidating than the first two.

She glanced about, moving only her eyes and not daring to move her neck in the slightest. Nothing to give off even the idea that she was frightened. After deeming the coast clear, Aya stuffed this new, smaller envelope into her bag just like she’d done with the others. 

Lessons went on as usual, but she was particularly antsy this time around. Just  _ knowing _ the letter was resting in her bag, amongst the rest of her belongings, would send her heart into a frenzy. 

She tried to concentrate but… she found it becoming harder and harder to focus on her school work and classes. Of course, it would be unacceptable if she got  _ too _ behind, but there was a significant decrease in her academic performance over the past few months. Aya was aware, and so was Sayo. 

Sayo, who was glancing in her direction as the math teacher was going over equations on the board. Upon making eye contact, Aya felt heat rushing to her face as she swiftly glanced down at the notebook in front of her. Her leg bounced rapidly, yet silently, unable to fully quell the nerves bubbling up inside of her. Suddenly, she felt like it would be even  _ more _ difficult to concentrate on her schoolwork… 

The day seemed to drag on - deathly slow - until, finally, the last bell of the day rang, dismissing all of the students. 

Aya hurridly ducked past Sayo as she called out for her - 

“Maruyama-san-!”

She nearly ran home. 

And, once she did, Aya swiftly locked up all of the doors and ran up to her room. Grateful that her parents both worked and that her sister was likely at a friend’s house, she was home alone to avoid their questioning of her behavior. She’d put off opening the envelope all day long, and it was only serving to make her more paranoid. Her mind left to wander, coming up with all sorts of heinous possibilities. 

The thing was… Aya was well aware that she probably shouldn’t have been opening these at all. After the first one, she should have just been turning these into the police and leaving it at that. But… whether it was morbid curiosity or something else, Aya found herself opening and reading each and every one. It felt very similar to when she went on ego searching binges - it was extremely unhealthy for her. She’d been banned from doing so by the rest of her bandmates and friends, after all. But… she couldn’t help it and still did it in secret.

She  _ had _ to know what people thought of her. 

It almost felt no different as she tore open the envelope to find a single photograph with no letter. The photograph… was of a ticket. A single photo of a single ticket to an event. An event that Aya was also going to be at the next day. 

It suddenly felt like the boiling blood in her veins froze over, frigid.

_ They’re going to be there… _

She desperately looked at the photo; if they had the serial code or *something* they could find out which person had the ticket! Only to notice the photo’s quality was despairingly poor and blurred; specifically blurred. Most likely edited, as well.

And, as the sun rose the next morning, while Pastel*Palettes got ready for their exciting fan event… Aya felt nothing but mounting apprehension. She kept it to herself, though, as she was slowly learning how to do. At least, she thought so, as Chisato’s cutting glances had been dwindling over time.

“Do you think we’re gonna get presents?” Hina asked, excited, as she kicked her legs back and forth. Most likely she was bored with trying to fix her makeup. Hina tended to get bored pretty quickly, her attention span needing something new to do every few minutes. “I’ve heard you’re supposed to be, like, careful with fan gifts.”

“How so?” Maya asked, her voice a pitiful whine as Chisato forced her to stay still, the actress professionally working on her appearance. 

“Y’know… like those creeps who put cameras in teddy bears or something.”

“W-what?” Aya stuttered. “That’s a thing?”

_ I’d never even thought of that… _

“Yeah! I heard it happened to that Touko girl from… what was that band called?”

“Ah!” Eve looked up from her own preparation. “I heard about that!  _ Sweeties _ , right?”

“Yeah!” Hina enthused. “That’s the one! Anyways, it was all over the news.”

Aya furled and unfurled her hands in her lap, urging the welling fear to leave her body. But, as it tended to, it didn’t listen to her and she felt her belly churn with worry once more. 

“That’s… unfortunate,” she said. “We should be careful then.”

Hina seemed to look over to her, thoughtful. “You okay, Aya-chan? I hope my sister didn’t scare you too much.”

“What’s this about Sayo-chan?” Chisato questioned, looking over at the two of them. “Did she say something to you, Aya-chan?”

“Oh, no not really-”

“Yeah, she’s totally convinced something bad is gonna happen. I guess some girls were talking to Aya-chan about crazy fans or something and Onee-chan got pissed off. But she’s like… uber worried, y’know? Told me to keep an eye on Aya-chan. Which I totally will!” she assured Aya, flexing her bicep and winking. 

This seemed to bring back the lighthearted mood as the other girls dropped the subject and Aya was left to filter out the fear alone once more. 

The event progressed easily. They started by greeting staff, having a briefing of policies and expectations, and getting ready at their stations as fans were beginning to be filtered through. They were to start with Chisato, head to Maya, then to Eve, then Hina, and then they would end with Aya herself. They had about a minute with each.

Each passing moment felt like agony to Aya.

And Aya  _ hated _ it. The feeling of being so suspicious and untrusting of all of these friendly, excited faces. All of them just so thrilled to be there, meeting their favorite idols - Aya could entirely relate to the feeling. Yet… there she was, thinking that any one of them could be stalking her, just waiting to follow her to her home… 

All her career, Aya had been hoping for an event like this to come around. Yet, in the moment, finding herself completely unable to enjoy it. Because of the tiniest possibility that any of these people could be the person who had been tormenting her from the sidelines for months. 

The entire time she was ready for a single person to stand out. Just waiting for a single person to slip up and say something strange or incriminating. Maybe she could catch them! But no… just a teenage boy telling Hina, next to her, how he was so excited to learn guitar because of her. Just a middle school girl accompanied by her doting father, telling Aya that she was her biggest fan and loved her voice. Just a group of elementary schoolers who brought handwritten letters for them. Just fans saying how much they loved them and their music. How they’d been supporting her from the beginning - even from her trainee days. How some of the little girls wanted to be idols now, just like her… 

And she felt herself relax somewhat. Maybe that person  _ wasn’t _ there. Perhaps the picture was just meant to scare her? To throw her off her game? She didn’t know. But she didn’t want to think about it anymore, ruining such a special event for her and her bandmates.

So, instead, she played it like normal. Smiled and thanked fans. Did her cute little pose with them for pictures. Pretended like there wasn’t a care in the world for just the briefest of moments. As though her past few months hadn’t felt like torment.

The rest of the originally dreaded event turned out rather well and Aya was slowly but surely beginning to find herself in a healthy routine again for the weeks following it. It might have been silly of her, but she hadn’t gotten an actual letter in such a long time… perhaps this all really  _ was _ just some sort of prank gone wrong and the person had finally decided to put a stop to it. 

And this theory seemed to be proving true as even more time went on without another envelope of any sort in her locker. No pictures, no letters, nothing. Despite this, there was always the faintest worry that this wasn’t quite the end of the road. 

Another single white envelope in her locker, a month later, proved her suspicions. 

By now, she’d fallen into the pattern of inconspicuously throwing the envelope into her bag, changing her shoes, and heading to class. As if it were just another day. She’d say she was getting rather good at it by the fourth time around. 

It didn’t seem to matter if she read the letter during school hours or if she waited until she got home. If she waited, Aya had to spend the day wondering what on earth could be in that envelope. If she read it during lunch break, she had to survive the rest of the day while she knew what had been shown or written to her. 

It was a lose, lose situation and Aya knew that. But… she couldn’t fight it. She just wasn’t strong enough to.

And she tore into the envelope the moment she locked herself into her bedroom, dodging her questioning mother and sister. 

“ _ I didn’t like seeing you talking and flirting with all these other ‘fans’ of yours. They’re all fakers - none of them love you like I do. You should know that I’m the best. I’m the one who loves you. I want you to only be mine… I don’t want others to look at you any longer. You exist for me and me only. I’m sure you’ve been wanting to tell everyone all about me. And… while I’m thrilled that you want others to know about us, just know… bad things just might happen if you try to do that. What kind of bad things? Well that’s for me to know, and for you to never find out, if you’re a good girl that is. It might be better for you to avoid the other girls for the time being. I know you’re so open and honest… it might be hard for you to keep me a secret. So you should give your friends some space. _ ”

She didn’t feel any surge of fear, this time. No urge to vomit or cry as she had before. She felt dull - almost numb - as she reread the words scribbled on in the same messy handwriting as all the letters before it. If anything, it was validating. As though she was making the right choice by staying silent. Aya knew her friends would be in danger if she got them involved. And, apparently, this person was willing to do bad things to them if she spoke up about her plight. 

Of course while this was the important bit that stood out to her, it wouldn’t do to completely ignore the implications of the first half. 

“They  _ were _ there…” she whispered to herself. 

No one had acted suspicious to her at  _ all _ . Aya had definitely thought that she could possibly pick up on whoever it was. There was no way… Was she  _ that  _ naive? That  _ trusting _ ? 

Aya had let her guard down and she was only lucky that she hadn’t paid for it yet. As she thought this, a sudden rage overcame her like she’d never felt before. Gritting her teeth to keep from screaming with fury, she crumpled the letter furiously, flinging it as far away from her as possible. She heard the vague sound of it smacking the opposite wall harshly but she curled in on herself in her bed, frustrated tears pouring over the sides of her cheeks. 

\---

Sayo was worried, of course, the day of the event. She was nearly beside herself, in fact. Hina had left the house, chipper and full of energy as always, promising Sayo that she’d “protect Aya-chan no matter what!” before dashing out. As though it was something entertaining. Sayo frowned. 

Tuning her guitar, she fumbled a bit with her fingers, causing an oddly pitched riff. Lisa looked over, noticing how on edge Sayo was. 

“You good there, Sayo?”

“I’m… fine, yes. Thank you, Imai-san.”

“Hmm…” Lisa didn’t look convinced. “You know, Hina’s been going on and on about how you were asking her to protect Aya. What’s up with that?”

Sayo sighed. “There’s no need to be concerned. Maruyama-san has just been showing signs of exhaustion, and I’m worried she’s been overworking herself.”

While Lisa looked like she wanted to press further about it - opening her mouth to close it again, looking thoughtful - she paused. They worked a bit in silence, once more, before Lisa glanced over, eyes darting momentarily, as she quipped;

“Hina thinks you like Aya.”

_ TWAAAAANG! _

Sayo’s fingers sharply flinched against her strings. 

“W-What on earth are you talking about, Imai-san!?” Sayo’s face turned a deep maroon color within a matter of seconds. “I’m simply concerned for the well-being of my classmate-!”

Lisa threw her head back with laughter. “I’m sorry! I can’t help it, you should see your face!”

“Imai-san!”

“Look, Sayo,” Lisa sobered, “all I’m saying is if you like her, there’s no harm in that. She’s a cutie, that’s for sure.” She grinned at Sayo covering her face. “If I had a girlfriend that cute, I’d be worried about someone stealing her away, too. No need to employ Hina for it, though~”

“Imai-san, I promise you that’s not why I’m concerned.” She sighed, heavily. “Also, she’s absolutely  _ not _ my girlfriend.”

Lisa put her hands up, surrendering. “Okay, captain. Then why are you so worried? Did something happen?” She regarded Sayo, serious.

That was something she admired about Lisa; she was able to be so lighthearted and free spirited, but could reign that in immediately to be there for someone she cared about. And, with her body and gaze fully turned to Sayo, her eyes almost looked right into Sayo’s soul, in that insightful way Lisa had about her. 

“She’s been very jumpy lately,” Sayo admitted. If she was going to truly open up about the matter, Lisa was the girl to listen. “I don’t know if she’s getting any sleep and I’m not too sure if she’s eating properly. She’s been losing weight-”

“Is she on a diet?” Lisa tried. “She’s an idol, after all.”

“I-” Sayo hesitated. “I’m not sure… she usually mentions when she’s dieting. She’s… purposefully going out of her way to not say anything about this. Whatever it is!” Sayo gesticulated, throwing her hands around a bit. 

“I see…” Lisa hummed. “Well… I wish I could say something more substantial, but your guess is as good as mine, if not better. It might be a good idea to keep an eye on her, though, like you’ve been. I definitely don’t want her collapsing, or anything, either…”

“Yeah…” Sayo agreed, feeling ill at the thought of Aya on the ground, overworked and faint. 

She managed to push her concerns to the back of her mind, somehow, as the others showed up for practice and they ran through their set.

Once she was home, she waited for what felt like an eternity before Hina returned, all smiles and cheers. 

“It was so  _ awesome _ , Onee-chan!” she gushed. “All these kids came, and we all got to take a bunch of pics, and-”

Sayo managed to smile at her sister’s enthusiasm. “I’m glad you had fun.”

Hina seemed to catch herself. “Oh! And Aya-chan is totally good! She was having a great time too, I think! I kept a  _ gooood  _ eye on her, just like you said.”

“T-thank you, Hina…” Sayo brought a hand up to the bridge of her nose. “I’m glad you were looking out for her.”

“Yeah!” Hina then began showing Sayo all the things she’d gotten from the event, and Sayo, feeling a bit more reassured, settled down to listen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you all think! I love hearing from you and knowing your thoughts~


	4. Chapter 4

It was dark. Not a single light other than the faint flickering of a torch’s glow somewhere in front of her. The only way she could tell she was laying on stone was the rugged, cold feeling against her skin. She could hear footsteps faintly from beyond, a hidden echo, but they hadn’t stepped toward the light’s range yet. 

_ Click… click… click… click… _

Just one foot after the other. Not heavy. Not rough. Not hurried. Just languid… calm. 

_ Click… click… click… click… _

Yet that almost made them all the more threatening. 

And, as the shape of a figure finally loomed in from the vague light, she felt like her heart might stop. They stood right in front of her, featureless apart from glinting red eyes that glared down at her. Framed by the amber of the torchlight she felt large, leathery hands wrapped around her throat. 

She began gagging and kicking and fighting back, suddenly sparked with the overwhelming urge to live. To survive. 

The hands, huge and rough, tightened their grip. She felt herself being lifted off of the ground by them. All of the breath was being smothered out of her body and she saw black faintly sparking at the corners of her vision. Before she suddenly heard a loud  _ crack!  _ and everything went dark once more. 

Aya’s eyes snapped open, as she lurched forward to a sitting position in her bed. Sweat cascaded down her brow and ran down her neck as she panted, willing her heart to calm down. 

_ Just another nightmare… _ she thought, swiping a hand roughly across her face.  _ At least that one was quicker than the last one… _

Aya blinked the heaviness of sleep from her eyes, fighting to adapt as best she could to being in her pink, flowery room as opposed to the jagged-feeling darkness she was slowly becoming accustomed to. 

She looked over to the clock. It was only five in the morning. Normally, she would have turned over and gone back to sleep for a few more hours; she didn’t need to be ready yet. But… she sighed. 

“Might as well get started now…”

_ I don’t want to go back to sleep. Not if  _ ** _he’s_ ** _ going to be there too…  _

Aya shook the thoughts from her head and swiftly got herself ready for the day. She briefly looked over to the drawer of letters and photos she’d received over the past few months. It was almost as if a threatening aura was admitting from it. Yet she couldn't bring herself to throw them all out for some reason. 

“Maybe that’s why I haven’t been sleeping well…” she murmured as she pulled her blazer on. 

The letters had begun coming more and more. Instead of only receiving them at school… she had begun finding them in the front yard of her home. Or they’d been dropped off at her work. And yet no one seemed to know who was leaving them. No one saw anything, or at least not that she knew. 

But they’d been coming. And they’d been coming  _ frequently _ . 

“I’m going crazy…” she whispered to herself. “But I need to stay strong…”

She made breakfast for her family and tried to eat some of it herself… but was unable to find the stomach for it after a few bites. She  _ had _ been losing weight lately… maybe that was a good thing. 

The walk to school was cold. The November air was chill and crisp, especially in the early hours of the morning where the sun had only just begun its ascent into the sky. The gentle yellows and blues served as a beautiful background, framing a perfect autumn morning as the vibrant browns and reds of the trees stood stark against it. 

Aya could almost forget her woes. 

She waved at an older gentleman walking past her, taking a morning jog with a labrador that reminded her of Leon. He smiled at her kindly. A couple of college-aged girls also ran by in the opposite direction, offering her smiles and waves of their own. 

It was peaceful… this early in the morning. 

Until she was in front of the school once more. In front of her locker. Where she was holding  _ another _ envelope. Another brown, large, manilla envelope. This time, no one else was around. No one else was on campus yet, that she could see. 

She opened it there. 

Aya wished she hadn’t. 

This one had pictures - a lot of them. From the  _ inside of her house _ . Pictures of her doing homework at her writing desk. Pictures of Aya sleeping. Pictures of her changing. Pictures of her in the bath. 

_ How… how!?  _ She nearly sobbed.  _ How did they even  _ ** _get_ ** _ these? _

There was a letter too. 

_ “MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE-” _

Aya didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to  _ feel  _ in that moment. She felt a cold, harsh pressure in her throat as the fear welled within her, staring down at the stark white paper in her grasp. She'd never thought that a piece of paper could feel so heavy...

She fought to swallow the suffocating lump in her throat; was it possible that she was being watched  _ right now _ ? Aya glanced nervously about her, as some people were just barely beginning to arrive at their lockers, changing out their shoes for the day. Aya tried to seem inconspicuous, fighting the violent  _ need _ to just slam the envelope into her locker, away from her. And, while she doubted she succeeded with that, she also didn't notice anyone acting particularly suspicious around her. Just some other girls switching their shoes in their lockers, like they were supposed to be doing.  None of them even seemed to be regarding her at all. 

Was the culprit even someone who went to her school? How else would they be putting these letters and envelopes in her locker, though? Enlisting the help of a student to divert suspicion? But then how were they leaving them at her house? At her work?

She hastily shoved the folder back into her locker and finished her business. 

_ This is getting really bad,  _ she thought, feeling a few droplets of sweat curve down her neck.  _ I need to tell someone... _

The fear stuck in her throat nearly bubbled as the guilt hit her just as strongly. The idea of telling her bandmates and management nearly caused tears to well up in her eyes. She'd stayed silent for so long solely to protect the other Pastel*Palettes girls... This was  _ her  _ problem. At least, that’s how Aya saw things. It wasn't fair for this to negatively affect her friends; none of  _ them  _ were being targeted. If she got the others involved, would they start receiving these letters themselves? Would this individual start going to her friends' homes instead? He’d threatened as much… 

But the truth was plain and simple. 

_ I can't do this alone anymore... _

Aya was scared. She'd never been so scared in her life. The pictures, the  _ letters _ ... It was all too much. She didn't know who was behind all of this, putting a young girl through all of this distress - this  _ violation _ \- but she was certainly scared of them, whoever they were. And she was sure that was just what they wanted. 

Quickly making her way to her classroom, she spotted Sayo fixing up some things. Aya wasn’t sure why she was surprised to see her. Sayo always came early, so it made sense that the older Hikawa twin would be on school grounds at such an hour. 

"Good morning, Sayo-chan!" she called out, trying her best to sound bright and cheery and not as full of anxiety and dread as she felt. 

"Oh," Sayo turned to regard her, "Maruyama-san, good morning. You're here rather early."

Sayo seemed to give Aya a look over, either not believing her peppy disposition or just silently questioning what the other girl was doing there so early. Aya diverted her gaze as to not make eye contact. It seemed that if she were to look into anyone's eyes they would be able to see the terror that resided in them clear as day. 

"Yeah, I am huh?" she giggled, instead. "I woke up early today so I figured I would head on over to school! Ehehe..."

Sayo nodded, her expression unreadable. "That's a good practice to get into. Perhaps you should make that a habit."

With the amount of sleep Aya had been getting - or rather,  _ hadn’t _ been getting - she was sure that wasn’t entirely impossible. "We'll have to see about that! Anyway, is there anything I can help you with?" Aya squeezed her hands together, trying to ignore the clamminess of her skin.

"Maruyama-san," Sayo's sharp, acute voice cut through. "Are you okay?"

It was less of a question and more of a statement of " _ I know you're  _ **not ** _ okay so don't bother lying to me. _ "

"Oh?" Regardless, Aya attempted at feigning ignorance. She giggled, trying not to sound nervous. "Do I look tired or something?"

"Very."

_ Ah... No-nonsense, as usual... _

"I might be practicing too much... ehehe..."

Sayo's eyes narrowed in suspicion and Aya felt anxiety knot and bubble in her belly. It didn't leave as Sayo seemed to drop the subject, instead turning back to finish her tasks. Aya shuffled over to her desk, skin crawling with nerves. 

_ Could I tell Sayo-chan? She's not part of the band... so having one of our fans stalk her isn't very likely...  _

But the thought of getting Sayo - or anyone else, for that matter - involved almost made Aya want to throw up again. 

She quickly sat down and laid her head on her desk to fight the sudden wave of nausea. What was she supposed to do? Tell no one and suffer in silence? Tell someone and force them into the same situation as her? 

She didn’t even notice as Sayo stared at her, forlorn. 

\----

Sayo had been worried about Aya for some time. 

The way she seemed to suddenly grow very jittery… easily startled. Like a beaten animal. Sayo worried about the possibility of abuse in the other girl’s home, but Hina cleared that suspicion away the second she began asking about Aya’s home life. 

As far as Hina seemed to know, the Maruyama parents seemed to be gentle, loving people and her younger sister admired Aya; idolized her, even. 

So then what could it be?

The shakiness… the fatigue… the increasing weight loss… the deep, dark bags under Aya’s eyes that were never there before. The eyes that used to be so full of joy for life… enthusiastic. The way Aya’s smile never quite reached her eyes anymore.

They were all worrying signs; beyond worrying, even. 

Sayo just couldn’t help it, either. The worrying. She’d been quite interested in Aya for some time. Just like her twin sister, she found the girl fascinating and somewhat enthralling. Of course, she originally found her seemingly blind optimism to be naive and foolish. Annoying, even. But… there was something quite charming about the way she carried herself. The cheerful, bright nature that almost seemed to give the girl a glowing, gentle aura. 

So, knowing something bad might have been going on in this girls’ life… something to make that glow start to fade, was deeply concerning to Sayo.

Thus, Sayo did what she knew how to do best. Be confrontational. 

She directly asked Aya if she was okay several times, letting her know she was there for her. Of course, she did it in her usual Sayo way, so she wasn’t sure if a shy girl like Aya would be willing to take her up on any of it… 

But Sayo knew. Aya had lied to her that day. 

Sayo could tell just from the way she averted her gaze. As though she was afraid to lie to her face. As though not looking her in the eye would keep Sayo from looking inwards and discovering the truth.

Something was deeply wrong with Maruyama Aya and she wasn’t allowing herself help. 

What that specific something  _ was  _ exactly, Sayo had no way of knowing. And, without Aya giving her any sort of information or admittance, she didn’t see how she was going to get anywhere with her concerns until she got her sister involved even further. 

While avoiding alerting Hina’s attention to the possibility of Aya being in trouble had been a goal of hers, originally, there just wasn’t a way to do that at this point. She was sure Hina had her own concerns; knowing her sister and how alike they were, there was no way Hina hadn’t noticed how odd Aya’s behavior had become. Though she’d responded rather playfully when Sayo originally expressed concern. Sayo simply didn’t want to alarm her sister, should her friend truly be involved with something bad.

But she needed her help.

\---

Hina was working at the dining room table, textbooks and papers scattered about her as she hummed a tune of one of their newer songs. She’d been really getting into the groove of things, before she heard her sister’s voice call out to her. 

"Hina."

Hina looked up to see Sayo settling herself across the table from her. 

"Oh! Onee-chan! What's up?"

"Is..." Sayo hesitated. "Is everything with Pastel*Palettes alright?"

_ Hm? _

"Ooh? What's this, what's this?" Hina grinned, planning on teasing her sister a bit. "You interested in your little sister's band all of a sudden?  _ Ooor _ are you worried about Aya-chan again?"

Hina's cheeky smile fell somewhat as she noticed the grim expression on her sister's face. Her golden eyes gleamed with an unspoken emotion that Hina wasn't used to seeing from Sayo. She was used to the surly, grumpy faces her sister would make where she had her eyebrows furrowed and she frowned so deeply, Hina teased she would get wrinkles. She was even used to the face when Sayo was super annoyed with her when she stole her fries. This was different.  _ Scarily _ different. 

"Is everything with Maruyama-san alright?"

"Yeah?" Hina was confused. Did Aya do something to Sayo? Or vice versa? Had her sister finally confessed? "She's been a little jumpy lately, but that's pretty usual anyway. Must be tired." 

She tried gauging her sister's reaction, but Sayo just seemed to remain deadly serious. It was unsettling. Hina rarely felt unnerved like this, but the way her sister was staring at her, in that moment, sent shivers down her spine. 

"Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

"Why?" Hina laughed awkwardly, trying to get rid of some of the tension, somehow. "Did something happen, Onee-chan? You're scaring me."

Sayo released a heavy breath. "She looked half dead when she showed up to class this morning. Pale as a ghost, and the only color to be found anywhere on her face were the dark bags under her eyes. She's been showing up to class like that a lot lately. Very early too." She narrowed her eyes. "She seemed as though she was going to pass out when I asked her if she was okay this morning. Wouldn't even look me in the eye."

Hina scowled at that. "She must be overworking herself again-"

"She looked like she was a second away from having a panic attack, Hina."

Hina’s eyes widened at that. That was bad. Aya had anxiety  _ badly _ and they all knew it; all of them had learned how they could help alleviate it, by now. Or even just helping her get through it. Just like they’d learned how to handle Hina’s own quirks. Aya’s naturally sunny disposition and healthy coping mechanisms their agency’s therapist gave her were usually enough to pull her out of the really bad panic attacks. Even when they weren’t, the rest of the group was always available to help coach her through a particularly rough patch. 

"From the look on your face," Sayo continued, "you had no idea."

"Not at all..." Hina grit her teeth. She only ever saw Aya at practice, rehearsals, and idol work anymore, after all. Sure, they went and hung out aside from that regularly - they all did. But Hina hadn't realized they hadn't done that in a while, until that moment. Well, at least Aya hadn’t. Was Aya not telling her something? “I haven’t really seen her in a long time…”

Sayo blinked owlishly, before cautiously asking, “You… haven’t?”

“Not outside work stuff…” Aya  _ had _ been declining whenever she or the girls asked her to hang out. They all chalked it up to being busy with school and her part time job. Those  _ were _ the reasons she usually gave them, after all. 

Sayo didn’t like that one bit. “Is she distancing herself?”

Hina’s heart lurched. “Why… why would she be doing that?”

“I don’t know, Hina. I’m trying to figure things out, but I need your help. Wait-!” Sayo called out as Hina immediately went to grasp her phone. "Hold on, Hina. Don't be rash!"

"But something has to be wrong!" 

"I understand that, but rushing into it and scaring her won't help," Sayo explained, tone gentle. "Have any of the other girls of your group said or noticed anything?"

"No!" Hina nearly sobbed, clutching her phone in her visibly shaking hands. “I don’t  _ think _ so…”

Sayo paused a moment before standing and going to wrap her arms around Hina's shoulders, accepting meekly as Hina clung onto her, as though her sister’s life depended on it. "It will be alright. She didn't tell me anything but we'll figure something out."

"I'm going to ask the others. Chisato-chan probably has been keeping an eye on her without making a scene," Hina said, as though to reassure herself more than anything. “She has to have been. She has to…”

"Most likely," Sayo agreed. "Shirasagi-san is very astute."

Hina let out a stressed puff of air, trying to compose herself. "She'd better not be ego searching again. Chisato-chan will be super angry."

"Ego... searching?" Sayo's dark expression blanked and she blinked with apparent confusion. It sounded very vain… she didn’t take Aya to be a vain person. 

Hina nodded along, seemingly frustrated. "Yeah! She looks herself up online and reads all the comments people leave about us. A lot of them are really positive but Aya-chan always gets super caught up on all the negative ones instead. She starts obsessing over it and once she starts she can't stop. And it really brings her down." She glared at the table in front of her. "It's not her fault... but we try and get her to keep away from all of that. But she still does it. Even though she knows she’ll get depressed after."

"Hmm..." Sayo thought on it. "I'm not knowledgeable enough about Maruyama-san and her behavioral patterns to really know if that's what's the matter or not. I can’t tell if that kind of self-sabotage is at play… But... well, she seemed scared, Hina. Like she was frightened. Does that sound familiar with this whole... 'ego-searching' thing?"

Hina chewed her bottom lip before responding, "No. That... she doesn't get  _ scared _ of it. She obsesses and gets really depressed but not... like  _ that _ ." Hina thought for a moment. “Does this have to do with you being super worried before our handshake event?”

Sayo sighed. “Perhaps… Maruyama-san has been worrying me for some time now, but it’s only gotten much worse. Especially recently.”

Hina frowned. “I thought you were being overdramatic,” she grumbled, upset. 

“Don’t start blaming yourself, Hina,” Sayo said, stern. “I’m not mad at you. We just need to get to the bottom of things. Whatever is going on with Maruyama-san, she clearly doesn’t think she can reach out and ask for help.”

“She’ll probably think she’s being a bother…”

Sayo hadn’t ever really given much thought of the possibility that Maruyama Aya had one or more severe mental illnesses. Sure, she’d heard of the girl’s anxiety from Hina before, and had experienced it firsthand on the rare occasion. But… for someone so bright and vibrant to be afflicted with such severe anxiety and depression… the situation might have been a lot more dire than Sayo had originally thought. 

“We’ll get through this, Hina,” she reassured her, and herself. “I’ll watch over her at school and I’ll leave her band activities and such to you and Pastel*Palettes.”

“You want me to get them all involved?” Hina asked. 

“I’ll trust your judgement,” Sayo said. “If you think it best to get all of them involved, then go for it. If you think Shirasagi-san would be the best option for now, that’s fine as well. I just think we should be cautious about how we handle things with Maruyama-san. We don’t want to frighten her into doing something drastic.”

Hina nodded, her homework long forgotten as she tried to deal with the cacophony of emotions surging through her heart. 

“I want to help Aya-chan.”

“Trust me, Hina, so do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... are you guys liking it so far? Leave me a comment and validate me pls :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hina, Sayo, and the others find themselves very concerned with Aya. Will she let them help her?

_ Twang! _

Sayo cringed as her guitar went off pitch, once more. 

“Sayo… you’re worrying me, y’know?” Lisa said, looking over at Sayo with the saddest, yet most gentle expression she thought she’d ever seen on their bassist. “You’ve been super stressed lately… that’s no good.”

“I’m… sorry,” Sayo apologized. “Is it negatively affecting the band?”

She didn’t have to ask. Sayo already knew; though, it was rather difficult to be overtly focused on your guitar strings when the girl you were in love with was visibly deteriorating. 

Lisa shot a warning look in Yukina’s direction; the vocalist of the band being more than less likely irritated with the lack of progress the band had been making recently. Because of herself, Sayo reasoned. 

“It’s not that,” Lisa continued. “More like, that’s not what’s important right now. Hush, Yukina.” She glared at her girlfriend, who had opened her mouth to say something. She turned back to Sayo. “You’ve been distracted and that’s not like you. We’re worried.”

Sayo sighed. “You’re correct. I hate to admit but my mind has been unable to be entirely focused on Roselia.”

That didn’t seem to sit well with Yukina. 

“What on earth could be so important that you cannot devote yourself fully to your music, Sayo?”

“Is it Aya?” Lisa asked, gentle. “I remember you saying you were concerned about her, before-”

“I think Maruyama-san is in danger.”

Sayo’s jaw clicked as she shut it swiftly. Though it was already too late. She couldn’t help it, as the sharp response had tumbled out before she could stop herself. Sayo breathed out, heavily, through her nose, only glad that Rinko and Ako hadn’t arrived yet. 

Lisa and Yukina stalled at that. Before Lisa’s expression turned panicked. “What do you mean Aya’s in danger? Hina hasn’t mentioned anything-”

“Because we’re not trying to cause a stir. But she and the others are supposed to be talking things out… today, actually.”

“But… in danger of what? You said she wasn’t eating or sleeping properly-”

“We… we’re not sure. But the situation isn’t good, Imai-san.” Sayo sighed, deep and frustrated. “She’s not doing well.”

Lisa gave her a sympathetic squeeze to her shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that… I know you like her.”

“W-wha-!?” Sayo practically gasped. “I told you I was just concerned-!”

“Well,” Lisa smiled, though it was still a bit sad, “I had a funny feeling that there was more to it than that… There was no way you were just gonna say that out of the blue, out loud, but your face gives it entirely away. Sorry~”

“Imai-san,” Sayo sighed. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Whew, I could’ve been called a lot worse you know.”

Yukina’s expression shifted from frustration into concern. “I… admit I’m worried about Maruyama-san as well. If the situation is so bad to be making you this distracted, it must be severe.”

Sayo was usually an incredibly focused player and band member. It was very off putting to have someone like that so absent and distracted. And Sayo would certainly agree with that sentiment. She only hoped their worries weren’t as bad as she had been making them out to be.

* * *

Aya was busying herself with packing her belongings into her training bag. Their lessons had gone somewhat late for the day and the others were still about, chit chatting as well. She’d begun making her way out into the hallway when suddenly-

"Hey, Aya-chan!" Hina grasped her shoulders, causing her to jump a bit, letting out a squeak of fear against her will. If Hina noticed, she didn't say anything about it. "Do you wanna go to this cool cafe later? Chisato-chan and I found a new place the other day!"

Chisato stood off to the side, patiently waiting for the two of them. 

"Oh..." Aya offered an apologetic smile, trying to ignore the disappointed expression Hina was bound to have. "I can't today-"

"You haven't hung out with us in  _ soooo  _ long though!"

"I've been busy-"

Hina was persistent, her grip deathly tight on Aya's sleeve, knuckles white. "You can take one day to come spend some time with your friends!" she insisted, cheery. She lowered her voice, expression unchanging, and said, "We're worried about you, you know."

Aya sucked in an alarmed breath of air.  _ What does she know? _

She laughed, breathlessly. "Worried? About what? Hina-chan you're so silly!"

"Hmm..." That same smile still in place, Hina looked Aya in the eyes, forcing her to make direct eye contact - something she realized she hadn’t done in so long. Aya was taken aback by the amount of distress muddying Hina's usual shining, citrine eyes. It suddenly made the smile seem frantic as opposed to the laid-back grin Aya had first taken it for. "Not sure! You haven't told us, so we can't know exactly. But, Aya-chan... you know, you're a terrible liar."

Aya's heart clenched and she felt like it might never beat again.

"L-lying?" she tried laughing out, making light of this agonizing situation. "Lying about what?"

_ They can’t know… they can’t! _

_ I have to protect them.  _

_ They can’t get involved.  _

_ This is MY problem.  _

_ Mine! _

Hina analyzed her, her gaze like that of a hawk. It was only enforced by the sharp yellow glow of her eyes. As though she could look into her and see her internal battle she was waging with herself. Aya was sure that if she were to glance towards Chisato same piercing gaze would be mirrored directly at her, mirrored in amethyst. 

“Well… that’s what I want to know, too, Aya-chan.”

Aya’s heart might as well have stopped for real. Might as well not even have had one… 

“What aren’t you telling us?” Chisato asked, sharply, not bothering with Hina’s somewhat coy methods. “We don’t mean to be interrogative, but… Aya-chan, you’re not giving us much of a choice here. You’ve been so cagey-!”

“Please, stop!” Aya whispered, frantic. “We can’t talk about this out here!”

Chisato and Hina, picking up on Aya’s panic, seemed unsure of what to do. “Then… then let’s go to that cafe-”

“No!” Aya cried, “There’s too many people-!”

“We could go to my-” Hina began before Aya swiftly locked gazes with her, shaking her head. “Your house?”

“No. That’s too dangerous. I feel like this is the only place we can talk openly. In the room, at least. Not out in the open. Do you want to get Maya and Eve, so we can put this to rest?”

Hina’s brow furrowed. “But Aya-chan, your house is close and I don’t know if the agency will-”

“That’s my only condition. It can’t be anyone else’s house and it can’t be public. And it  _ absolutely _ cannot be at my house. Here or nothing.”

Hina was incredibly put off by the sudden, abrupt switch to this “down to business” sort of Aya. She spoke swiftly and sharply, almost like Chisato or Sayo. Yet there was a sense of panic that Hina wasn’t used to from Aya, either. It wasn’t anything like how Aya was supposed to speak or react… Like how Hina had become accustomed to. It went against the pattern, the flow, the routine. Hina swallowed the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her. 

“Okay…” Chisato cautiously picked up where Hina had fallen silent. “Then we’ll work around those conditions. I’ll phone Eve and Maya and have them come back and meet with us. They probably haven’t gotten too far.”

“...Fine.”

Hina sat across from a sulking (or panicking, she couldn’t tell) Aya as Chisato went to inform the agency that they were discussing something important in regards to the band and that they would need the room for an undetermined amount of time. 

Eve and Maya seemed very confused as they entered the room, locking it behind them as they took in the intense atmosphere that surrounded them. 

“What’s up, guys?” Maya asked, tentative, as she settled herself down next to Hina, gently squeezing the hand that immediately reached to clutch at her flannel sleeve. Eve sat next to Chisato, looking very nervous and unsure of the situation. “Chisato made it sound serious over the phone-”

“I’m being stalked.”

The others all snapped their attention to Aya, going dead silent for a solid moment. 

“E-eh?” Maya stuttered. “You… you’re-”

“Someone has been stalking me,” Aya said, her breath shaky. “I don’t know who they are, but they have been making my life a living hell for a very long time now.”

“Aya-chan,” Chisato said, her tone dark. “You didn’t tell us-”

“They said they would hurt you all if I said anything,” Aya snarled, catching them all completely off guard. Aya had never even so much as raised her voice towards any of them before. Her nails sunk into her thighs as she glared forward. “They know where I live. Hell! They’ve been  _ inside my house _ , you guys! They could hurt my parents and my sister…” she sobbed, frustrated tears beginning to sting at her eyes. 

The four others exchanged looks that could only be described as horrified. 

“Are… are you sure it’s not just a prank?” Eve asked, hopeful. Falsely hopeful.

Aya hiccuped. “They’ve taken pictures of me showering and changing. They said they would hurt you guys, me, and my family if I told. That’s a pretty sick joke.”

“Aya-chan!” Chisato couldn’t help but call out. “That’s-!”

Aya sobbed, burying her face into her hands. Her muffled voice cried, “I know! I’m sorry I didn’t say anything! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!  _ I’m sorry _ ...” 

Maya was by her side in an instant, wrapping her up in a tight embrace, fighting tears of her own. “Aya-san… you’ve been suffering so silently by yourself… I’m sorry we didn’t notice-”

“Aya-san…” Eve was also openly crying. 

Hina clenched her hands atop her knees, fingernails digging into her skin. “I’ll kill them,” she muttered darkly. “We have to find them and-”

“And what, Hina-chan?” Chisato snapped. “We can’t do anything about-”

“And what!? We’re just going to let them keep hurting Aya-chan? I don’t think so!”

“That’s not what I was insinuating, Hina-chan!”

“But that’s-”

“STOP!” Aya shouted. “Just… just stop! Us fighting isn’t going to help anything. Honestly I don’t even want you guys acting like I told you anything. I don’t know how much they know and-”

“We have to tell the agency,” Chisato said, sternly. “You need to be assigned protection and we’ll have the police look into the possibility of apprehending this vile criminal. That’s what is going to happen, Aya-chan. No ifs, ands, or buts about it!”

“But, if there’s a scandal-!”

“Your life is more important!” Hina growled, her tone uncharacteristically scathing. 

Aya went quiet, tears rolling silently over the sunken hollows of her cheeks. The rest of the group could only sadly remember how they used to be so vibrant and plump… Maya raised a shaking hand to wipe them for her, and received no protests as she did. Aya, the image of a broken girl to all of them. Someone who had entirely given up on help. That was the most horrifying part at all; Maruyama Aya  _ never _ gave up… 

“Hey now,” Maya comforted, gentle, “there’s no need to throw in the towel or anything. We’re all here for you, Aya-san. I know this is… really bad, but we’ll get management involved and… I mean the others are right. There are going to have to be some changes until we can catch whoever is responsible, but-”

“Maya-san is right,” Eve agreed. “We all love you, Aya-san…”

Aya only whimpered in response, burying her face into Maya’s coat. 

The girls all exchanged a worried glance before Chisato slipped out of the room. Out of all of them, she was going to be the one who would be most appropriate for informing their higher ups. She passed by one of the office workers on her way there, offering an absent minded wave. 

Luckily, their main manager, Aiko, was still in the building. The older woman immediately took in Chisato’s troubled demeanor and joined where all the other girls were waiting for them. 

“What do you mean you’re being stalked?” she demanded, as the girls began filling her in. “That’s really big stuff to be keeping to yourself, Aya!”

“I’m sorry…” was all Aya said, her arms folded defensively around herself, protectively.

“How long has this been going on?”

Aya didn’t answer immediately. “Few months…”

“Oh goodness…” the older woman slid a shaky hand down her face. “And… you think they’ve bugged your  _ house _ ?”

“I know they did.”

Aiko frowned before turning to the others. “Have any of you girls had any similar situations going on that you haven’t been telling us about?”

“No, ma’am…” Maya spoke up. The others all nodded in agreement. 

“Well, Aya,” Aiko turned her full attention back to her charge, “we should all just be grateful nothing has happened to you.”

Aya glared at that. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry. But you haven’t been physically assaulted or attacked beyond… an ugly amount of violation and invasion of privacy. We should have been more careful, but…” she trailed off. While she didn’t want to blame Aya for not speaking up - she was such a young girl, after all - it would have been a lot easier to put a stop to things, had the agency known they were happening in the first place. “We’ll have to get the police involved.”

Aya sniffled. “Are my parents going to find out?”

“Well…” Aiko thought for a moment. “More than less likely, yes. It would be much more harmful than helpful to not keep them in the dark in this kind of situation. If this person has actually been inside your house as you said.”

“Mom’s gonna be so angry…”

Aiko’s demeanor softened at that. She had to remember that, at the end of the day, she was talking to a seventeen year old girl. “Hey… I know your mom. She’s an understanding lady; if you were being threatened that they would be hurt if you said something, then I doubt she’ll be quite so upset with you. But this  _ is _ serious and we might have to have all four of you staying somewhere safe while this is all going down.”

“You could stay with me and my sis!” Hina offered, desperate. “Onee-chan is super strong and would know how to handle an emergency, and-”

“Hina,” Aiko gently reprimanded, “you four and your families will also be put under protection while this investigation is going on. I don’t think it would be too good of an idea to have her staying at another member’s house.”

“Maybe Kokoron’s house then?”

“K-kokoron?” Aiko questioned, looking to the others, perplexed. 

“Tsurumaki Kokoro,” Chisato explained. “She…  _ would _ have heavy security available around her estate, I’m sure. But that seems like an extreme measure to take.”

“That and the less people involved, the better, I’m sure,” Aiko added. 

Chisato glanced at Eve and Hina. It… wasn’t likely that this would stay among Pastel*Palettes for too long.

“Alright… I’m going to have to get some investigators and lawyers involved in this. The more we keep out of the press, the better, too. And… Aya?”

Aya’s head lifted, her eyes red from crying and her body still shaking. 

“You’ve done well… You’re a very brave girl.”

Aya couldn’t stop another round of tears from bursting out and the others all moved to comfort her, smiling somewhat sadly at her. But the remaining members of Pastel*Palettes all had a surging hope that they could finally fix this terrible situation, now that Aya was willing to let them in. 

* * *

Sayo had been pacing back and forth across their living room for the past thirty minutes - at  _ least _ . Not really thinking to keep track, it could easily have been longer than that. Maybe even less. Who knew? All Sayo knew was that she didn’t know where Hina was or what was taking her sister so long in getting home. Hina had sent her a single text just saying ‘on my way’ and not explaining anything further. Which Sayo found simply infuriating.

“Where  _ is _ that girl?” she growled out to herself. 

Suddenly, she heard the front door to the house unlock and turn open. Her head whipped around at the sound and she saw Hina quietly pressing it back closed with a soft click, locking it behind her once more. 

“Hina!” Sayo was already scolding. “I’ve been so worried-”

“It’s worse than I thought it was going to be, Onee-chan.” Hina’s voice was soft… sad.

Sayo’s mouth snapped shut mid sentence, her teeth making a small clacking sound in the process. Her skin crawled with apprehension as Hina gave her a tired, downcast expression. It looked unnatural and out of place on someone like Hina.

“How so?” she asked, steeling her resolve. To be prepared for anything her sister was bound to throw at her in that moment. Not that she ever could have been, for what her sister revealed to her-

Hina’s expression dropped further. “She has a stalker.”

Sayo’s heart lurched. “She… she’s being stalked?”

“You really were on point with worrying about the fan event. I guess some crazy fan is obsessed with her…” Sayo could see her sister’s fists clench and unclench by her sides. “They’ve been threatening her… They know where she lives and everything.”

“ _ Shit! _ ” Sayo swore, slamming a fist down against the kitchen counter. 

Flinching, Hina looked over in brief surprise before sighing. “I know. I feel the exact same way right now. I wanna feel mad at Aya-chan for not saying anything, but… I just can’t be. It wouldn’t be fair to her, either.”

“Hina, this is really serious.”

“I know,” Hina agreed. “We’re going to be under protection, too.”

“We…? As in you and I?”

“Yeah.”

Sayo scoffed. “I understand you, but why me?”

“You and I live in the same house. All of the band and our families are being put under watch while they have an investigation going on for this person’s arrest.”

“What about Maruyama-san?” Sayo demanded. 

Hina folded her arms in front of herself. “They’re moving her and her family out from their house for now. I don’t know where Aya-chan is going to be staying, though.”

“Damn it…” Sayo growled. 

“I’m sorry, sis… I didn’t think it was going to be  _ this _ bad.”

“Neither did I…” While not being the worst possible case scenario Sayo had worried herself sick imagining, this was pretty high up there. It hadn’t even crossed Sayo’s mind that this is what had been plaguing Aya for so long. All things considered, it should have been somewhat obvious; but that’s the thing. Everything is obvious once it’s in hindsight.

“Are they going to be running an investigation?”

“Yeah. Once Aya-chan is moved out, they’re going to be checking the house for leads, I guess,” Hina said, silently plopping herself down on the couch, allowing her body to go somewhat limp, visibly exhausted. 

Sayo settled herself next to her sister, not knowing what else to do or say, opting to let Hina do as much or as little talking as she wanted. Anything to fill the silence, rather than have to think; to come up with words of her own. 

Sayo found herself thankful when Hina  _ did _ continue. “She didn’t show us anything, but I guess this person has been sending her pictures of herself and weird, cryptic letters for  _ months _ . Months! And she… she just didn’t tell us.” Hina shook her head. “But… I can’t be upset. I just… I won’t let myself be angry at her. She’s been through a lot… and…”

“Do you think she did it to protect the rest of you?” Sayo’s question came quietly - softly - as she thought of the time Aya had assured her that her friends would be the first to know, if something was wrong. 

“Yeah,” Hina answered, firm. “I know she did.”

“Hmm…” Sayo dug her fingernails into the skin of her knees, the flesh stinging as it became flushed and red. 

“Don’t do that,” Hina chided, “you’ll hurt yourself.”

“Sorry,” Sayo said, not used to being scolded. “It’s a lot to handle right now.”

“I know… I’m sorry to get you involved-”

“I was already involved, Hina.” Sayo gave Hina a pointed look. “I’ve always been involved with this.”

“Yeah,” Hina smiled, knowingly. “I’m glad I have you. If you didn’t push me to confront Aya-chan, she wouldn’t be getting help right now. So… thank you, sis.”

Sayo felt an indescribable emotion in that moment. Gratitude, appreciation, and sorrow all in one. All she could do was pat Hina’s shoulder, in what she hoped was a comforting gesture, wishing to get her point across to her sister. 

She was glad when Hina smiled, showing her that she understood exactly what she meant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what do you guys think is gonna happen next? I'd love to hear some thoughts and theories. I love hearing from you guys! Hope you're all doing well and enjoying :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if I put some fluff in this fic?? Ahaha just kidding... unless??

Aya didn’t feel entirely comfortable around the Suits. Kokoro had easily and quickly agreed to having their assistance directed towards Aya’s situation. Not that they had gone too far into detail with the younger girl, but she was always more than willing to drop everything to help a friend. 

Though, Kokoro’s parents had been given a briefing of the situation and Kokoro had learned, somewhat, through them. She was having a somewhat hard time grasping it, since she always wanted to see the happiest, most fun reality of a situation; and there just wasn’t one in this. So she just didn’t know what to make of it. 

Not that Aya could blame the poor girl; Aya wished she could see the good in a situation like that as well. Especially when it was taking such a huge toll on all the people around her. Her family, her bandmates and agency, and her friends. 

Her poor parents hadn’t even been mad. Not even a little bit. Her mother had broken down, cursing herself for not noticing sooner.  _ Apologizing  _ to Aya that she had let her go on like that, by herself, for so long. Her father was enraged that someone would target his little girl like that and vowed to protect her. Her younger sister was being kept mainly in the dark, much too young to properly grasp what something like this entailed for Aya. 

While there were so many bad things about the situation, Aya thought on how supportive the people in her life were. Even the girls from the other bands were reaching out to her, offering their friendship and encouragement. 

She knew Kanon was particularly worried, as the girl tended to fret in general, even without something bad happening. She’d taken to spending a lot more time with Aya and Chisato around school. The other band girls who attended Hanasakigawa also began keeping an eye on her. Her worried underclassmen made a strong effort in keeping tabs on Aya’s wellbeing. It really was sweet… 

… but she wasn’t sure how to take being this dependent on those around her. 

Aya found herself on the roof again, knowing that the well dressed figure by the school’s gate was a Suit, probably keeping an eye on her right then and there. She offered a small wave and she could have sworn the figure nodded in response before swiftly looking away. 

As far as she and any of them could tell, the letters had stopped coming. Her house was under strict surveillance as it was scoured for evidence, so there was no telling if the culprit would try to leave any more traces there. Her locker remained blissfully empty aside from her shoes. She had been instructed to take a leave from her part time job as well, so that she couldn’t be tracked that way either. 

It almost felt as though part of her life had gotten so crazy and the other half had gotten much more peaceful. While she wasn’t entirely at ease, it was comforting for Aya to know that so many people loved her and wanted her safe. And she  _ did _ feel much safer, considering that she hadn’t dealt with any signs of the stalking in the weeks following all the precautions her agency had taken. Which had become a month. Two months. Time just continued on, seemingly serene. 

All of the letters and photos and envelopes had been handed over to police at the beginning of their investigation. She had no idea about the progress of any of it, but she didn’t really want to know. All she cared about was if the person was caught and she could go back to her normal life. 

“There you are,” came a sudden, yet very relieved voice from behind her. 

She flinched violently, biting her lip to keep from whimpering as her head practically whipped around, allowing her to see Kanon and Misaki standing near the door to the rooftop. 

“Sorry, Aya-senpai,” Misaki looked extremely guilty. “I didn’t mean-”

“Don’t feel bad, Misaki-chan,” Aya said, sadly. “It’s not your fault. I’ll get better about that, eventually.”

“I know…” she said, remorse still strong in her voice. “We just wanted to come get you before class started back up-”

“I’ll walk you to your classroom,” Kanon offered, a small smile gracing her features. “If you want.”

“Okay,” Aya breathed out, forcing her nerves to calm down. She smoothed her skirt and followed after the two girls. 

* * *

“Maruyama-san,” Sayo greeted, making sure she was already in Aya’s line of sight before announcing herself. She’d quickly learned - she  _ made _ a strong effort to learn - what little things would trigger Aya’s panic. Sayo made it a top priority as to not startle her when the two of them would talk. “Would you like to walk together?”

Sayo was going to be the one escorting Aya today, it seemed. The girls, at least those attending Hanasakigawa, had all decided at no point was Aya ever allowed to be alone outside of school. Even having her alone  _ in _ school was sketchy at best. All of the girls had agreed that at least one person was to be with Aya at all times. On one hand, Sayo thought it was a bit much. Possibly overwhelming the other girl wasn’t exactly something Sayo felt good getting behind. But she also understood where that level of overprotectiveness was coming from, so she went along with it. 

Aya smiled, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. 

“Okay.”

“Do you not want to?” Sayo’s heart hurt, thinking that she did something to upset the girl she liked. “I understand if-”

“It just feels like you’re all guarding me,” Aya admitted, honest. “I love and appreciate all of you,” she said, causing Sayo to blush, “but I just… it’s so much for me. It’s a lot… It still feels like I’m just being watched all the time. It’s too similar.”

Aya’s face contorted with a darker, sadder emotion. 

“Maruyama-san…”

“I know that’s just so ungrateful of me, but-”

Sayo shook her head, fervent. “No. You deserve your personal space. I’ll be respectful of that.”

A moment of silence passed between the two of them. Sayo quietly took note of the frustrated, yet contemplative look that crossed Aya’s features. She parted her lips as if to say something, but quickly closed them as she noticed Sayo looking at her. 

“Is something wrong, Maruyama-san?”

“I-” She hesitated. “Would you miss me, Sayo-chan? If something were to happen-?"

"Why would you even say that?" Sayo whispered through grit teeth. "I would be  _ devastated _ ."

Aya’s fists clenched at her sides. She licked her lips before saying, “Sometimes it just… it feels like nothing would change, you know?”

“You-” Sayo clenched her jaw. She wouldn’t get mad. She  _ couldn’t  _ get mad - not at Aya. “You’re  _ so  _ important.” To Sayo, Aya might as well have hung the moon, after all. 

Aya’s eyes widened at first, her eyebrows raising in surprise, staring openly at Sayo in wonder. Before she smiled and her nose crinkled in the way that made Sayo’s heart flutter. “Thank you, Sayo-chan. I… needed to hear that.”

Aya suddenly reached out, taking Sayo’s hand in her own. Sayo marvelled for a moment, just how soft they were. Completely unblemished by calluses or blisters. Her own hands, rough from years of guitar practice, felt big and clammy and unnatural in Aya’s embracing touch. 

“Sayo-chan,” Aya murmured, her voice low and somewhat raspy. Sayo would willingly admit her heart skipped a beat. “I’m so glad I have you around. You’ve been nothing but good to me and… I feel like I’m being very rude right now. Let’s go together.”

“Only if you’re sure,” Sayo said, sternly. “It’s understandable that you would start feeling claustrophobic and uncertain if you suddenly have all these people around you at any given time. And… considering everything that’s happened so far, your reaction and concern are understandable. You need space and privacy.”

“Thank you.” Aya smiled, her eyes actually glittering with warmth and what seemed to be amusement for the first time in a long time, as she grabbed her bag and tugged on Sayo’s hand, not once letting go. 

Sayo melted into Aya’s touch. She didn’t know if Aya knew how she felt. And in that moment, she didn’t entirely care. All that mattered was Aya and Aya’s safety. Her comfort and her feelings. 

Sayo’s overwhelming crush on her be damned. 

“Maruyama-san,” she started, before Aya put a finger to Sayo’s lips. 

“Call me Aya… please?” she asked, her tone hopeful. 

“Aya…” Sayo whispered her name like a prayer. Aya smiled, radiant. And Sayo really did feel like she was calling upon an angel. 

“Yes?”

“I…”  _ I love you. _ She couldn’t just  _ say _ that. No matter how badly she wanted to. It wasn’t appropriate timing. That and Sayo was a big old coward, but she’d hide behind her excuses. “I’m glad I can be here for you.”

“Aww, you’re going to make me cry,” Aya laughed, squeezing Sayo’s hand tighter for just the briefest of moments. “But I’m glad, too. I never thought we would be close, y’know?”

“I understand that,” Sayo agreed, smiling. “You and I are… rather different, as people.”

Aya frowned somewhat, and Sayo felt guilty for possibly disappointing her. “I don’t think that’s true at all, Sayo-chan.”

Sayo blinked, perplexed. The two of them were practically polar opposites of each other. Sayo was stern and rigid; Aya was bright and syrupy. Sayo was aloof; Aya was warm hearted and kind. She could go on and on about just how different they were.

“How do you mean?”

“Well…” Aya blushed as the two of them walked, having left school grounds some time ago. Sayo vaguely felt their joined arms swinging in between them. “You’re very hard working. I think that we have that very strongly in common. You and I are very determined to succeed and work very hard for our bands.”

“Y-yes…” Sayo blushed, not knowing that Aya had been paying such close attention to her. “I suppose-”

“We both want to make good music and are willing to put in a lot of time and energy to achieve our dreams.”

“Well, yes-”

“You seem strict and stand offish, but you’re a very sweet girl, Sayo-chan. The way you take care of Hina-chan and… me, now,” Aya chuckled to herself. “You’re very pretty too.”

“Maruyama-san-” she halted, seeing the disappointed look she was being given. “Aya.”

“Hmm?” She smiled, instead.

_ This girl is going to be the death of me _ , Sayo thought, willing her heartbeat to calm to a steady pace. Her demands were being ignored. 

“You’re… being rather bold today.”

Aya simply laughed. “And  _ you’re _ being awfully shy today.”

It was hard to not be shy around one’s crush, especially when they were spending a solid five minutes just complimenting you, but Sayo stood her ground. 

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It’s cute,” Aya teased, squeezing Sayo’s hand once more. 

_ I’d forgotten we were still holding hands _ . 

Sayo looked to where they were connected and worried her heart might not be able to take it, trying - but woefully failing - to ignore the bubbling feeling in her belly. What was this girl doing to her? She shook her head and smiled. She really couldn’t wait to tell this beautiful star everything she thought of her. 

_ After things are settled… I’ll tell her then. _

She’d handed Aya over to Hina as the two of them broke off to head for their agency. Sayo bid them farewell and spend the rest of her walk home feeling like she was walking on clouds. 

* * *

“What was  _ that _ all about?” Hina teased, lighthearted, as she and Aya walked away from her sister. 

“What was  _ what _ all about?” Aya asked, perplexed. “Sayo-chan was walking me to meet you-”

“I know that, silly!” Hina protested. “But what’s going on with you two?”

“Hmm?”

“C’mon, Aya-chan! You two were holding hands, all close and cozied up. Onee-chan’s face was so pink! More than your  _ hair.  _ If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had a crush on my sister-”

Aya covered Hina’s mouth with both of her hands, equally part embarrassed and part horrified. 

“Do you want to put Sayo-chan in danger?” she whispered, deadly quiet. 

Hina’s eyes widened at what she had just said and looked to the floor, ashamed. “I’m sorry…”

Aya placed a calming hand on Hina’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. I suppose I shouldn’t have been so close with her either. But… you just can’t go around saying whatever you want anymore. You’ll…” she huffed a frustrated breath of air. “You’ll get used to it. Eventually.  _ I’m  _ still trying to, clearly.”

“Anyway,” Hina whispered. “You two have been getting awfully close lately. I was just curious.”

Aya blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hina gave her an unimpressed look. “If you’re gonna lie, at least make it convincing.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Whether it’s to me or yourself,” Hina said, cheekily, “doesn’t matter. But  _ I  _ can see it, loud and clear.”

“Hina-chan, that doesn’t make sense-”

“ _ Can you feel, the love…. Toniggghhht~! _ ” Hina began dramatically singing from one of her favorite movies that she had made Aya and the others watch over, and over, and over. Aya wanted to cover her ears. She could practically feel them growing pinker by the second. 

“Hina-chaaaan,” she whined, hoping it would get her friend to stop. “You’re being problematic.”

“Ahahah!” Hina simply laughed at that, the tension around them easily fizzing out, as the air became light hearted once more. 

“Would you be mad…?” Aya’s soft question came, quiet and bashful. 

“Hm?” Hina blinked. “Mad at what?”

“If… if I liked your sister?” Aya was looking anywhere but at Hina. “Would you be mad at me?”

Hina gasped, scandalized. “You  _ do _ !?”

“Hina-chan-!”

Hina couldn’t help but squeal and jump up and down as she grasped Aya’s hand, causing the other girl to bounce with her. 

“This is  _ SO _ boppin’!”

Aya wanted to be annoyed. Wanted to be affronted or irritated or even flustered. But Hina’s vibrant laughter was infectious. So she just lowered her walls for a moment, throwing away her inhibitions that she hadn’t noticed she’d been building up, as she giggled and laughed with her friend. Let herself go and allowed herself to be a teenage girl in love, for even just a moment. Just like how it was supposed to be. 

Hina was very thrilled and supportive of Aya’s newfound crush on Sayo. Aya was grateful she wasn’t upset or jealous or possessive or anything like that. In fact, she seemed to want Aya to confess right then and there, almost dragging her backwards to chase after the girl who had left the two of them alone together. 

  
Managing to convince Hina that  _ wasn’t _ a good idea, the two of them headed to work, Hina gossiping and snickering the whole way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do mean to write more SayoAya stuff outside of suspense/angst stuff so, hopefully that'll be a thing someday. Let me know what you thought!


	7. Chapter 7

Classes had finally let out for the day. 

Aya saw both Sayo and Rinko still in the middle of packing up their supplies. Most likely either one would make their way over to her and offer to walk her out of the school’s grounds before someone else took over. And then another would take over. And then someone else. And so on and so forth. The only time she was allowed to be alone anymore was when she laid down for bed, but as soon as she was asleep, that also changed. 

Aya loved her friends… She truly did. All of them were so very dear to her. 

And yet… she felt suffocated.

Aya felt bad about thinking this way - really bad. Despite the guilty somersaults her gut seemed to perform as she thought about it, Aya also really didn’t want to be hounded by people in that moment. There were always too many faces, too many voices reaching out to her to offer to walk with her. To be near her. And, while she loved all of her friends dearly, especially since she figured out how much she truly liked Sayo, it was too much for her at the rate she’d been experiencing for months. 

She needed space.  _ Badly _ . 

Not saying a word to anyone, she immediately slipped on her bag and rushed out into the corridor. She went the opposite direction she usually went, easily using the crowd of students also making their way home as coverage, slipping in among their ranks. 

Aya knew it was more than a little bit foolish for her to take this particular route. Of course it wasn’t smart. She was supposed to stay on her usual path where the Suits would be waiting for her, to escort her to their safe house. Privately and without letting anyone follow them. 

She knew that. Yet…

Having eyes on her at any given point in time was just so stressful. It was asphyxiating. Especially for a teenage girl who just wanted the tiniest breath of freedom. So… Aya didn’t go the scheduled route, ignoring her gut instinct. She was sure she still had a Suit watching her anyway, but it felt a lot less invasive as she stopped at a nearby park, just to breathe. 

She sent a brief text to Sayo, apologizing but letting her know she was safe. She put her phone in her pocket as she noticed the Suit from her peripheral. She felt slightly safer already. A bit more valid in her thoughts. Though, admittedly, she felt somewhat guilty for making them come all this way to follow her. 

She settled herself onto one of the swings, drifting slightly back and forth. No real power or drive behind it - just a moment of silence and thought. Familiar feelings of doubt began creeping into the back of her mind. 

It was funny, how despite the bad things that happened in someone’s life - no matter how extreme - the world just kept going. The sky was still blue, even if someone was having the worst day of their life. The clouds still rolled by, making whatever fun shapes they wanted. The breeze still carried sweet, fresh smells and the flower beds still grew.

Such a melancholic thought made Aya’s throat constrict.

“What would the world do if I was gone?” she whispered to herself, looking at the way the daffodils swayed gently against a gust of wind. “Would it change?”

_ Would it  _ anything _ change? If I were to disappear…? _

She sighed.

There was no point in thinking like that. She knew her friends would miss her dearly. Her parents and her sister. All of Pastel*Pallete’s fans. 

It would be silly for her to think the world would be entirely unaffected if anything were to happen to her. She thought of her friends, bandmates, classmates… Sayo. Thinking back on the intense look Sayo had on her face when Aya had asked if she would be missed… her heart pounded. Aya was important… she mattered. Just like Sayo said. Even if it was just to a small handful of people… Maruyama Aya mattered. 

She smiled at the thought, relishing in the tender warmth of the sunlight beaming down against the zephyr blue of the sky. 

Her thoughts were interrupted abruptly as she heard a loud crashing sound and a voice yelling out in pain. She snapped her attention toward the main road, a little ways off. She rushed over, worried. 

Immediately, she saw a man crumpled on the ground, spasming. He seemed to be choking for air and clasping at his heart.

“Oh my god!” Aya breathed out, her feet carrying her to this collapsed figure on the ground. “Are you okay!?” she asked, feeling panicked as she dropped to the man’s level. 

Receiving no response, she frantically looked about for help. A police officer or even just a bystander. The Suit wasn’t even in sight, from what she could tell. Though she felt momentary unease from that knowledge, it seemed that Aya was, unfortunately, the only one around. She reached for her phone in her pocket; she couldn’t let this man just suffer like that! She had to call an ambulance!

Her fingers began dialing the emergency number-

Suddenly - instantly - she felt an intense pain in her side like she’d never felt before. Her entire body jolted and she felt harsh vibrations tear through her. Her vision blinked white. Before she could even think about what was happening, some sort of cloth or fabric was pressed up against her open mouth, immediately silencing whatever screams she might have made. She felt her legs begin kicking out, to no avail. 

It smelled slightly sweet and she felt her body beginning to go limp, her thrashing lulling to a stop, aside from the twitching she felt in her aching muscles. She only barely registered the sound of her phone clattering to the ground as the edges of her vision blurred like television static before fully going to black.

* * *

Sayo glanced nervously to the empty seat to her right. 

She had been tense since Aya had left school without anyone the day before. Aya had texted her at some point, telling her she’d stopped by a park on her way home from school and that she would see her the next day. 

Hina hadn’t mentioned Aya feeling unwell. Hina hadn’t said anything about Aya being absent that day. Sayo discreetly checked her own phone to check whether or not Aya had contacted her again since yesterday afternoon. She hadn’t. 

Those facts were all she needed to send her into an internal panic. 

_ I can’t ignore this. _

She raised her hand - usually something prim and straight, now completely shaking - catching the teacher’s attention. 

“Ah, Hikawa-san. What’s the matter?”

“I am feeling unwell. May I go to the nurse?”

“Oh! Of course. Are you okay to go by yourself?”

She met Rinko’s concerned gaze, clearly seeing the other girl was as fearful of their friend’s absence as she was. She nodded, adamantly putting aside her dread for resilience. 

“Yes, I will be fine. Thank you,” she said, standing up from her seat and taking her bag with her, an overwhelming feeling of dread and apprehension taking over her. 

_ Something is wrong…! _

She ducked into a restroom and instantly called Aya. It went to voicemail. Immediately. Not even a single ring. 

Staring down at her phone in panic, Sayo didn’t know what to do. Call Hina? Get Chisato? Call the police? 

Chisato. She had to get Chisato. 

* * *

Chisato had been sitting calmly in her classroom, unfortunately ignoring the English Literature lesson she and her classmates were in the middle of receiving. She’d been trying her best to pay attention, yet she found herself doodling on the edge of her notebook, absentminded. She just couldn’t concentrate on the lesson. 

She noticed Kanon’s apprehensive gaze out of the corner of her eye. She turned and only offered a kind smile, hoping to ease her friend’s concerns. Chisato had, with Aya’s permission, informed Kanon about the situation, knowing she could trust her friend with anything. She recalled that Kanon had been utterly distressed upon learning what had been going on around her. 

It must have been the reason Kanon had been paying so much extra attention to her and Aya. Even Eve had been more often approached by Kanon and the others. Kanon was a very shy, timid person. But she knew the Pastel*Palettes girls were going through a rough time, so she made it a habit of making sure they were all doing alright. Chisato appreciated this immensely and she knew Aya did too. 

Her thoughts were interrupted as a soft knocking sound rang out by their door which was gently pushed aside, open. Hikawa Sayo bowed slightly to their teacher, saying, “Pardon me.”

“Ah, Hikawa-san?” the teacher answered. “Is something the matter?”

“I need Shirasagi-san’s assistance with something. I was told to retrieve her.” She looked somewhat uncomfortable, and Chisato was immediately suspicious. 

“Oh… of course? Um, Shirasagi-san-”

Chisato was already standing, bag in hand, her composure taut and in control. “Certainly. Kanon?” she turned to the very confused yet uneasy girl next to her. “Could you possibly bring me the notes later?”

“S-sure,” Kanon stuttered. “But… Chisato-chan-”

“Later,” Chisato quietly murmured, her eyes trained specifically on Sayo as she began making her way over. 

Sayo began urgently leading them in the direction of the principal's office. Chisato followed at a surprisingly agile pace, not wanting to be left behind; both girls were barely refraining from running through the halls. 

“What’s going on?” Chisato demanded. “Is something-”

“Maruyama-san didn’t show up for class today.”

Chisato went deadly silent. 

“I take it that means she didn’t say anything to the rest of you about taking the day off?” she asked, seemingly dreading Chisato’s answer. 

It came through grit teeth; “No. She didn’t.”

“Shit…” Sayo cursed quietly, her brisk pace picking up somewhat.  “She didn’t text me today either.”

Chisato was bringing out her own phone, looking over her text history with Aya. She noticed her friend hadn’t answered her texts or messaged her since Aya had left school the day before. She hadn’t been able to check up on her friend, her lessons and schedule being much too chaotic. 

Chisato had tried to calm herself down. It would be somewhat over dramatic to panic over an unanswered text. But... when one became two... then three. A missed call. 

Aya always answered her phone - she tended to always be on it. Unless she was at work or in school, and Chisato now knew she wasn't currently doing either. 

“Have you told Hina-chan?”

“No, she’s in class-”

Hina answered her phone after a single ring. 

"Chisato-chan."

"Aya-chan isn't in class.”

“What?”

“And she’s not answering her phone."

Sayo gave her a side eye, not entirely pleased that Hina would answer her phone in class, but also understanding this was much more important than something so stupid and petty. 

"Yeah..." came Hina's immediate, yet nervous sounding response. “She hasn’t texted me today at all. Not on LINE or anything.”

Chisato bit the tip of her thumbnail, despite knowing how unladylike it was, fighting desperately to quell the nerves surging through her. 

"She hasn't said anything to you?"

"No," Hina answered. "The agency hasn’t called or anything like that, either..." She lowered her voice into a whisper. "So I'm trying not to freak out. But-"

"I'm worried, Hina."

"So am I!" Hina breathed out. "But she should have eyes on her, shouldn't she? Those suit people they hired from Kokoron?"

"Even so, why wouldn't she be answering her phone? This is Aya-chan," she pressed. “And if she wasn’t going to be in class, wouldn’t they have the responsibility to let us know?”

"I know..."

Chisato felt a dull, aching sensation clench in her gut. She didn't like this. Something felt immensely wrong. Chancing a glance at Sayo, this unnerving feeling persisted. "Do you know if she's been in contact with anyone else? The other girls-"

"Maya-chan said she's worried too," Hina blurted. "Eve-chan hasn't said anything, but I could ask-"

"Please do. I'm going to be asking our agency if their security can tell us why Aya-chan isn't answering." Chisato practically growled, "If something happened-"

"Let's not think like that..." Hina pleaded. The girl sounded anxious but... also very tired. 

Chisato nodded to herself, saying, "Alright. I'll try not to imagine the worst case scenario yet. I'm sorry for worrying you, Hina-chan. I know things have been... rough, for everyone lately. I'll let you know if she contacts me."

"Okay... I'll ask Onee-chan if she can try calling Aya-chan too."

“There’s no need. Sayo-chan is with me and we’re on our way to contact the agency about this.”

“Onee-chan is with you?”

“Yes,” Chisato said, handing the phone to Sayo.

“Hina?”

“Onee-chan, what’s going on-?”

“I noticed Maruyama-san wasn’t in class. After everything you’ve all told me I immediately was worried. Stay calm and wait for someone from your management to reach out to you. Don’t do anything extreme, please.”

“Okay…”

“Then… I’ll talk to you later. Stay safe,” she said, suddenly feeling a surge of impossibly strong emotion well up inside of her. Sayo swiped angrily at the tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she handed Chisato her phone back. 

The other girl didn’t comment, didn’t say anything. Hell, Sayo could see she was holding back tears of her own. Both girls were usually so composed, too...

They practically burst into the principal’s office, explaining the situation, barely containing the tempest of emotions surging within them. The principal earnestly listened to the two of them, contacting the police about the situation. 

Both girls were deemed to be too upset to continue with classes for the day and were sent home, each of them being escorted by Suits. Chisato glared at them, insulted that they could even be trusted to watch over them after letting something happen to Aya. For letting the main target out of their sight for even a moment. 

Upon returning home, Chisato threw herself immediately into her bed, trying not to let herself be consumed by her worry. 

She nearly jumped out of her skin as her phone buzzed. Trying not to be disappointed that it was just Kanon, she opened the message. 

**Jellyfish Princess:**

_ Chisato-chan, is everything okay? You never came back and we’re all really worried. Rinko-chan told me that Sayo-chan also didn’t come back. _

Chisato sighed.

**Chisa-No:**

_ Aya-chan wasn’t at school today. _

**Jellyfish Princess:**

** _…_ **

** _… _ **

** _… _ **

Kanon seemed like she was taking a long time typing out her response. Chisato set her phone down, feeling her ability to keep her emotions at bay waning. 

Kanon finally responded, telling Chisato she would be talking to Kokoro as quickly as she could about the Suits to see if they knew anything. 

Chisato could only hope Kanon’s efforts were more of use than her own. She wanted nothing more than to run out and search all over for Aya. But she knew that was dangerous. Going out by herself was too risky. But god if it didn’t infuriate her that she was being made to sit around doing nothing while no one seemed to know where Aya was.

And, as Chisato laid down to rest that night, she couldn't shake how off-putting it was, not receiving at least a good night text from Aya. Her night was fretful, wrought with distress. Her mind was fully awake the entire time, just waiting for her phone to buzz or ring or anything- 

But it was no good. 

Once she had finally succumbed to sleep, it was fitful and disturbing. 

Dark shapes and whispered, murmured voices haunted her. Stinging pains and sharp cries wracked her through the night until light began peaking up above the horizon. Chisato woke, feeling more perturbed than when she went to bed, panting with drops of sweat beading at her forehead. 

She immediately grasped for her phone, calling for Aya.

"This number has either been turned off or disconnected-"

"No-" Chisato gasped, rushing out of bed. "No, no, nononono-"

Her phone began ringing and she felt her heart contract as she saw it was from Hina. "Hina-chan-!"

"Her phone is disconnected-"

"I know-"

"The agency can't get a hold of her either-"

Chisato felt like there was no air in her lungs. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She just couldn't. 

"How did they lose her?" she croaked, losing any semblance of control she had maintained the night before. “Wasn't someone watching-!?"

She vaguely registered the knocking at her door as her mother entered, a somber expression on her face. Chisato wanted to cry. Aya probably was crying, wherever she was. So, Chisato swallowed the lump in her throat and followed her beckoning mother, keeping Hina on the phone. 

"Chisato, darling..." her mother murmured. "The agency just called me, and they want all of you girls to head over. They'll probably be calling Hina-chan and her family right now too. Something... I'm sorry, love. Something happened."

Chisato felt her world crashing around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah... that was a thing :P


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know we left off on kind of a cliffhanger last time... but we're back babey

Aya woke feeling very groggy. She felt numb yet somewhat tingly as she tried to take in her surroundings bit by bit. She was clearly tied up somehow, as she couldn’t move her arms. She couldn’t see - something was on her head. A mask? No… a bag? A pillowcase? She couldn’t tell. 

All that mattered was she couldn’t  _ breathe- _

She jolted, hearing footsteps land right next to her. And she felt something tug at whatever was around her face and her head. 

As it was ripped from her, and her vision cleared, there were several things she immediately noticed. One, she was on a bed. Two, she was tied to this bed, arms being restrained by an itchy, ragged sort of rope. Three, she was face to face with a man. A man in his mid to late forties, she figured. He seemed to be in office worker attire, dressed smartly. A smiling man that Aya just barely recognized. She’d seen this man before. He had been at the meet and greet event. With his teenage daughter… The man writhing on the ground, faking a heart attack. 

“Hello, Aya-chan!”

Her stomach lurched. 

“I’m so sorry about the state of the room,” he was apologizing, twisting at a ring on his hand. “It’s so messy, I wasn’t prepared to have you over just yet! And I’m sorry for being a little rough with you. But you see… you definitely made me have to come get you sooner than I was ready for. I couldn’t have anyone figuring out who I was before I had you, you know.”

Aya’s skin felt like it was crawling. The way this man was looking at her… was not human. This wasn’t a cohesive person. He wasn’t  _ sane.  _ He seemed so  _ calm _ ; she would never have thought that this man had just  _ kidnapped _ someone, if she were looking in from an outsider’s perspective. 

“I’m just glad I didn’t have to hurt any more people than I did!” he said, breathing out heavily as though in relief. Talking about this like it was the most mundane topic he could be discussing. Though his words severely worried Aya. The Suit hadn’t come to help her, after all- “That wouldn’t have been very good! It was just the one, so we should be good. I don’t think anyone saw me, either… I was very careful. Even when I put you in the gym bag! I never even needed to go near the rest of the other girls. Though… I never did have as much of an interest in them anyways, truth be told. You were always the cutest! Is that mean? Ahahaha…”

Scratching the back of his neck, he turned his gaze right towards her, smile widening impossibly across his face, almost splitting it. “But  _ you~! _ ” he practically moaned. “You, Aya-chan! Oh, you’re so special,” he said, bringing a ragged hand up to stroke her face. Eerily similar to the hands of her nightmares, strangling her to death. She shivered.

“You’re such a sweet, untainted girl… and we’ll keep you that way!” He booped her nose, giddy. “I can keep a proper eye on you while you’re here so that no one else can ruin your purity. You’ll be just for me! And I won’t have to suffer anymore since I won’t have to share you any longer. Isn’t that special?”

Aya’s eyes, wide and frantic, darted away from his, not brave enough to maintain any sort of eye contact. 

“Of course, I would love to contact your parents to let them know you’re safe. But I can’t risk that, I’m sure you understand.” She didn’t. “I have a daughter myself, you know.” Surely, that only made things worse.

A muffled voice called from above them. A drop of sweat tumbled from the man’s brow, the only indicator that he was stressed, as he nervously glanced toward the doorway in the corner of the room across from her. 

He stood up and made his way towards the doorway. “Unfortunately, I have to make sure the house is tidied up for my wife and daughter so they don’t figure anything out, but I’m expecting you to be a good girl! Alright?” he said, his tone dropping into something dangerous with the demand of the end. 

“Y-yes, sir…” she heard herself answer, her brain overriding with terror and the need to survive, her desire to escape being put to the side. 

_ Keep calm, Aya…  _

His dark expression faded with an extreme twist as he smiled brightly, as though she had just said the best thing he’d ever heard, looking at her with utter reverence. 

“Perfect! I’ll be back down later tonight. I’ll bring you something yummy for dinner! I promise.”

And with that, he opened the door - Aya couldn’t see past it, his body blocking her view - and closed it behind him. She heard it lock and what sounded like heavy footsteps leading up a staircase.

“Oh my god…” she sobbed out, once she was sure she was alone, shaking violently as any composure swiftly vacated her body. “Oh my  _ god _ ! Oh...!” she whispered, sharply. Her chest clenched as her eyes pricked with tears. Her breathing spiked and she felt herself begin to hyperventilate. 

_ I’m so, so stupid!  _ she lamented.

Tugging against her restraints, she winced as the course, tough rope rubbed into the soft flesh of her wrists, digging in, almost cutting. If she kept pulling at them, there was no way she would get out of this without the meat of her forearms being torn up.

Sighing in defeat on that idea, she shifted her gaze about the room again, eyes flitting and darting around in her panic. It was then, and only then, that she noticed the sheer amount of Pastel*Palettes merchandise that coated the room. Posters, signed and unsigned. Endless containers of CDs and DVDs. Decorative fans.  _ Photographs _ … both candid and not. And all of it. Pink, pink, pink… 

“Oh  _ no _ …” she whispered. 

She then realized none of her friends were really this man’s target. It really was just her - Aya and Aya alone - all along. There was no way of telling if he was capable of or willing to hurt the other members of her band, but it was clear as day that he never had  _ this _ kind of interest in them. She almost didn’t know if she should have been grateful for that… 

Aya didn’t know what she was up against. Just how dangerous was this man?

She found herself quickly thinking that she didn’t want to find out. 

_ What would Chisato-chan do…? What would Sayo-chan do? _

Aya knew both girls were calm, collected, and - most importantly - intelligent. They would know what to do, she reasoned. Though her heart panged painfully at the thought of either girl, she fought to take in her surroundings, properly. And, after a bit, she caught sight of something. 

It was barely noticeable, but she saw her backpack in the far corner of the room. Her eyes narrowed, and she winced as she felt a tear fall down her cheek. Rubbing her face into the crook of her shoulder, she knew she needed to get her backpack. If that man hadn’t already thrown out her cellphone, that would be her ticket out. 

Staring at her wrists and looking back to her bag, Aya wasn’t sure how she was going to get herself out of this situation. There was no buzzing from the pocket she knew she had put her phone into. Of course, it was likely the culprit had either turned it off or just… disposed of it. But a small amount of hope that Aya managed to cling onto was that her phone was in there. 

_ I just… need to get out of these ropes…  _

She curled in on herself, instead. 

* * *

A dead body had been found at that park. The same park that Aya had told Sayo she’d been spending time in, the day of her disappearance. The person - now a corpse - had been Aya’s guardian at the time; one of the Suits. It was a very slow traffic area, and the body hadn’t been found by anyone until hours after their tragic passing. Or so the agency and the police said. All Sayo knew that the only apparent witness to the murder was currently being dragged somewhere in a bodybag and the only witness to the kidnapping was being put into a coffin. 

The entire playground had become a crime scene. It was macabre - haunting - seeing the police tape and officers in an area that was meant for children to play and frolick in. She could so easily picture Aya, gently swaying on the swing set, singing a melody of some kind. Sayo felt her throat constrict as she tried to ignore the way her eyes burned. It hurt to see this place. It hurt a  _ lot _ . Knowing that Aya was taken less than fifty feet from where she and Hina were stood. 

They were kindly, yet strongly, advised to leave.

They agreed that would be for the best, as they numbly tried to process things. Hina clung to Sayo’s sweater, her grip never leaving its purchase in her sister’s sleeve. Sayo’s mind was reeling. It hadn’t stopped racing. Nothing felt real. It all just felt like a very,  _ very _ bad dream that they would all wake up from any second now. 

Unfortunately that’s not how life works. 

Hina had been a wreck since the day before, their agency having called an emergency meeting in regards to the apparent disappearance of Maruyama Aya. An official missing persons case was filed and it quickly spread all over the news and media that the vocalist and lead of Pastel*Palettes had more than less likely been kidnapped. 

Sayo hadn’t been happy to hear the media so heavily involved - but it was for the best. The more the news was spread, the more leads the police would get, she reasoned. But, seeing Aya’s posters everywhere wasn’t easy. Looking down at Hina who flinched and averted her gaze from another media outlet broadcasting the story, she knew it wouldn’t be easy for any of them. 

She had to be strong, though, for her sister. And for herself, as well. 

Hina dragged her feet as they walked, no real destination in mind. Sayo saw their Suit following at a distance from the corner of her eye. While she felt bad for making this individual travel in some random direction for so long, she also didn’t particularly care. Her thoughts were too far gone at this point. 

“Hina,” she murmured. 

Her sister put her hands in her pockets and looked away. 

“ _ Hina _ ,” Sayo insisted. Hina, then, looked up. Sayo was surprised at the contempt that was there. Before her sister blinked and it was gone. 

“What’s up, sis?”

“We… should go home.”

Hina fervently shook her head. 

“Why not?”

“We have to look for Aya!” Hina nearly sobbed out. Sayo felt her heart clench, painfully at the sight and the sound of her heartbroken sister. “We have to help…”

Sayo nodded, knowing she would only make Hina’s panic worse by dragging her home. “Okay. We…” she sighed, “we can look a little bit longer. Okay?”

“Mmhmm…” Hina murmured. 

That was all Sayo could do. Was be patient with her. With herself, too. Neither of the young girls had ever been in a situation like this. This kind of thing happened on the news - to strangers. To someone else. But that was the thing, you’re always someone else to someone else. 

She found them wandering in the direction of the small convenience store that she knew Lisa worked at. Looking through the glass, Sayo barely made out the shape of her bandmate from the window. She looked to Hina and looked back to the store.

“Do you want to grab something to eat?”

Hina shook her head “no,” silently.

“Do you want something to drink?”

Once again a head shake, a “no.” 

“Do you want to say hi to Imai-san?”

Hina perked up at the mention of her friend. She wordlessly nodded “yes” as she began shuffling in the direction of the mini mart. The doors slid open, mechanical, with a quiet “ding”, alerting Lisa to their presence. 

A bright, eager smile - fake, Sayo could tell, since it was nothing like the honey-sweet smiles Lisa usually wore - was plastered on her face as she turned to greet her newest customers. Before she saw who it was and her face crumpled with an emotion so raw that Sayo felt she might burst, herself. 

“Guys…” 

Hina barely waited until Lisa was out from behind the counter. She threw her arms around her and sobbed, loud and uncontained. Sayo glanced around the store, her own eyes prickling, to see if they were bothering anyone. The store was empty. 

Lisa wrapped her arms tightly around Hina’s shaking, quivering form. Lisa’s own shoulders shuddered as she cried, too. Though, her tears fell silently down her cheeks as opposed to the desperate gasping coming from Hina. Sayo was almost angry - felt traitorous - to find her own cheeks dry, as her fingers cautiously swiped across the surface of her skin. 

Moca, apparently also working that shift, came out from the back room. Most likely to see what the commotion was. Her normally relaxed, easy-going presence was unusually tense, especially as she took in the sight of the Hikawa twins. Her eyes, however, softened with a maturity that Sayo didn’t think she’d ever seen from the other girl as Moca said, “Hey, Lisa-san. Do you guys wanna use the back? I’ll take over the front.”

Hiccuping, Lisa gave Moca an appreciative look. “Thank you, Moca. I’m sorry-”

“Don’t,” Moca interrupted, softly. “We all understand how you guys are feeling right now… We feel the same way.” She looked at Sayo. “Tsugu’s worried. Call her, please.”

“Understood,” Sayo breathed out. She’d been so distracted, caring for Hina, that she hadn’t even checked any of her missed calls or messages. 

She followed, hesitant, as Lisa weakly guided Hina to the break room. She almost wanted to ask if this was okay - if it was allowed. Partly because she not entirely care in that moment, but, also, it seemed that - aside from Lisa and Moca - there was no one else in the store at all, management or otherwise. 

Lisa simply guided Hina over to a few of the chairs, scooted them closely together, and held her, quiet. 

Sayo took a chair and situated it across from them. Her eyes darted around the room, unsure of what she could possibly say in that moment. There was  _ nothing _ she could say to take away the pain of any of them. 

Lisa stared over at her, and Sayo caught her eyes. 

Lisa was always scarily good at silent communication. Considering that she was probably the most talkative member of Roselia, it was a very interesting characteristic of hers. How introspective Lisa was; how she seemed to just be able to read people. 

Looking into Imai Lisa’s eyes was like inviting her to stare into your soul in order to gather as much information from you as she needed. 

“Sayo,” her voice called out, low and gentle. 

“Imai-san.” She sighed. 

“I’m so sorry,” she said, simply. 

Sayo’s fingers dug into the skirt around her knees. “So am I…” 

“Sayo…”

Sayo looked to Hina’s form, turned away from her. “I should have kept a better eye on her. She wouldn’t have even  _ been _ at that park if I hadn’t been so careless-”

“Sayo.” Lisa frowned. “You didn’t do this.”

_ I might as well have _ , she thought to herself, knowing that she would get more than soft scolding if she continued that train of thought with Lisa.

Instead, she looked down at her lap, ashamed. 

"Whoever did this took advantage of the single moment someone wasn't with her,” Lisa said, softly. “Just like we thought would happen. You were prepared to be with her, weren’t you?"

“I was…” Sayo’s throat threatened to close as a wave of grief washed over her, keeping the words from properly escaping. “But then she…”

“She was gone,” Hina rasped out, her voice sounding raw. “She was just… gone…”

“Oh Hina,” Lisa cooed softly, stroking her friend’s hair. “I know… I’m sorry…”

“Lisachi…” 

Sayo felt another rough wave of guilt wash over her, thinking about it. “I should have been there… I should have been with her-”

“You might have just gotten hurt too, Sayo.” Lisa’s expression was intense. “Please… don’t blame yourself.”

Sayo swallowed thickly. “I… I can’t do that.”

“I know it’s hard, but you obviously didn’t want this to happen.”

“You don’t get it!” Sayo was suddenly on her feet, unable to control herself. Lisa’s eyes were wide as her chair clattered to the floor, Hina burying herself even further into Lisa’s work uniform - it was completely crumpled. “You just don’t get it!”

Lisa only stroked Hina’s hair, almost to calm  _ herself  _ down. “You’re right. I don’t entirely understand what  _ you’re _ going through right now. But I know how I’m feeling, Sayo, and I don’t feel good either. You’re not the only one hurting.”

“But she was-!” Sayo cut herself off as her vision blurred. She blinked and a tear escaped. “She was…”

Lisa’s eyes only held a soft tenderness as she looked to Sayo. “I know…” she whispered. “I know what she was to you. What she  _ is _ to you.” Lisa extended her arm, inviting Sayo to join Hina and her. 

“It hurts…” Sayo admitted, lowering herself into Lisa’s embrace, hoping it would make everything okay again. It didn’t. 

“I’m sorry,” Lisa said, almost to apologize for not fixing everything on the spot. “I’m here…”

  
_ But  _ ** _she_ ** _ isn’t…  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...?? What do you guys think?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hopefully everyone who has been reading along has been enjoying the story so far! I just want to say I did quite a good bit of research going into this project, but not all of my info of police workings and stuff might be 100% accurate; this was written for fun, not profit, so if I get called out on that... I'm aware lol.

Aya brought the bowl to her lips, taking a tentative sip of the soup she was offered. She’d, somehow, gotten accustomed to the man staring her down as she ate, watching her every movement. His smile was overwhelming, looking at her like she was royalty. Her wrists were blistered and red, only allowed to have her wrists free while he was present. 

“Is it good?”

She simply nodded. 

It was a rather extravagant meal, Aya thought. For a prisoner, that was. 

Fish, vegetables, rice… she would have thought she was his child being brought dinner, as opposed to a girl he was keeping in his basement; a barely contained secret from his wife and daughter. Only hidden by the thinnest veil of deceit and Aya’s own fearful silence. She chewed a little slower, in disgust, at the thought. 

And he talked to her; about his family, his work, his day. 

Truly, she didn’t know what to make of her situation. It was really hard to tell how many days had gone by, but it had to have been at least a week at that point. Probably two weeks. Though, she was really going off of context clues of the man’s schedule and stories. She only went to sleep when she knew he wasn’t there, so that didn’t help matters too much, either. She didn’t have any means of counting, as she couldn’t even make tallies anywhere. Even if she had writing materials… her freedom was very limited.

She didn’t know what to think of him. He was puzzling. He had brought her books to read and often came to spend time with her, when he didn’t have work. When he spoke with her like that, casually - normal - the man almost seemed like a kind person. But, of course, she knew better. She couldn’t  _ let _ herself think any different. As he would tie the ropes back once her meal was over. As he would aggressively shush her as his daughter came down the stairs to alert him of the bath being ready or some other affair. As he would walk her to the restroom only once he knew his family was out of the way. She hadn’t been allowed to bathe. She hadn’t stood for more than an hour the entire time. 

“Apparently Junpei’s daughter is taking the entrance exam to your school next year,” he continued his chatter, smiling kindly at her as she set her empty bowl with the rest of the dishes. “It’s very exciting.”

She simply nodded along, finding it easier to just go with whatever the man said. There was very little point in offering her own dialogue, especially when her growing dissension wanted to burble forth. And, while she doubted he was going to kill her - if he had wanted her dead, he would have done something by now, she reasoned - she also didn’t want him being upset with her. Aya didn’t want to risk what would happen if she were to speak up against him. 

It would continue like this for some time, before he was called upstairs for one reason or another. He always sweat nervously, his breathing shallow, as his wife called for him or his daughter came to retrieve them. Clearly, he knew this was wrong. That his life would be over the very second he was found out. As far as Aya could tell, the man’s wife thought this was an office of some sort. A work room maybe? Certainly not a prison. Or, previously, a  _ shrine.  _

Aya certainly would have tried to attract the attention of whoever else lived there, if she had a clear idea of when the man was or wasn’t home. There were no clocks in the room - probably for that reason - and Aya only knew if the man was gone at all because he would come in directly after getting home from work. By then, it was already too late to alert the man’s family. Besides, from what it sounded like, the girl had school and the wife also had a day job. 

She internally cursed her bad luck. It seemed that the entire family was gone at the same time throughout the day. As far as she could tell, at least. 

“My own Mio is going to be taking the exams next year!” the man gushed, seeming to not pay Aya’s silence any mind at all. “Too bad you were in your third year, she would have loved to have been your underclassman.”

Aya didn’t glare. She didn’t cry. She didn’t grieve that this man had taken her final year of high school from her, as far as she was prepared for. She simply stared at the bed sheets in front of her, looking over the skin of her hands. It was starting to get scabby… 

There was a knocking at the door and both Aya and the man nearly jumped into the air. He swiveled to her, putting his finger to his lips, as if Aya would ever dare to act out in that moment. Visibly sweating, the man went over to the door and Aya watched the retreating form of her captor once more, breathing heavily as he panicked, hearing his wife’s voice from the top of the staircase. 

“Hayato!” the voice of an older woman rang out. “You didn’t help with the dishes at all! Don’t think I didn’t see you take an extra serving down there. Honestly!”

The door clicked shut and Aya heard the tell tale sound of the door locking. 

She breathed out in relief. Before she looked down to her lap again. To see her wrists. Her raw, stinging,  _ unbound _ wrists. 

Audibly gasping, she stood up. She paced around the room. It was the first time she’d been allowed to stand up without being watched in - maybe - two weeks. Her gut instinct was to rush over to her bag, to check for her phone. 

_ What if he knows you touched it? _

She sat on the edge of the bed. It was unlikely that the man would be back down for the night, she reasoned. Once he went up for the night, he normally did not come back down until he was about to leave for work the next day and he brought her breakfast. 

It was a  _ huge _ risk. But Aya wanted to get her phone more than anything, in that moment. There was no way she would be able to reach out with it, in case he somehow checked it while he was in there. He hadn’t, so far, but there was no telling if he wouldn’t. 

Picking up her resolve -  _ it’s now or never! - _ Aya wandered over to her bag and shuffled through the pockets. Her phone was, in fact, in the pocket she had left it in. 

_ That’s… so sloppy _ , she thought. It seemed like any reasonable kidnapper would have tossed the phone by now. While it would have made sense for him to hide all of her things down here to avoid suspicion from his family… a cellphone seemed like an easy thing to throw away and never see again. 

It  _ had  _ been shut off. 

But, as she turned it back on, it wasn’t damaged. It wasn’t broken. 

Immediately hundreds of missed texts and calls poured in.  _ Ping! Ping! Ping! _ Aya rushed to silence the phone, and she looked to the door, afraid. She waited for the tell tale sound of footsteps down the stairwell but… heard nothing. 

Nearly panting, Aya put in her smartphone’s password and looked at the text history. So many missed texts from  _ all  _ of her friends. She nearly sobbed. It would take too long to look through all of them. But she saw the most recent few; Hina, Chisato,  _ Sayo _ . 

She opened Sayo’s text history. 

“ _ Aya, please answer… I’m trying not to lose hope, but… it’s very hard.” _

_ “I miss you… please be safe.” _

_ “Aya, I need you back. Please come back to us… I wasn’t lying when I said you were important to me.” _

Aya felt familiar tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She swiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand as she turned off her phone once again and put it back in her bag, making sure it looked exactly as it had before. 

She went back to her bed, sniffling. 

Sitting like that for some time, she barely noticed as the door opened once more. The man had come back, looking somewhat exasperated. 

“I’m sorry, Aya-chan. My wife is a little… cagey, as of late.” He glanced over and saw her untied. His gaze hardened. “You didn’t leave your bed, did you Aya-chan?”

She hiccuped, but shook her head “no” silently. 

He breathed out and smiled again. “I’m glad you’re such a good girl, Aya-chan! I really wouldn’t have liked it if I needed to punish you.” Aya felt another jolt of fear despite the causality of those words. “But it looks like you’re so well-behaved I won’t have to!”

He began winding the ropes around her wrists once more, and she almost felt like she deserved the pain she felt. 

* * *

Sayo shared an unsure glance with Chisato as they were gathered into the room with the members of Pastel*Palettes alongside a few of their friends from the other groups. Kanon, Misaki, Lisa, and a few others were present as well, trying to be as supportive as possible. A well dressed man was whispering with some of the other adults in the room - Aiko, their manager, included - as the girls all buzzed with a sort of nervous energy.

“What do you think this is about?” murmured Kanon, next to her. 

Sayo tapped her foot, unable to contain her nerves as she heard Chisato’s whispered response. “It has to be about Aya-chan… I don’t know what else it could be.”

Many of the girls had their hands clasped tightly, Maya even pressing hers to her forehead. 

The man finally made his way over to address them. 

“Hello,” he said. “I’m the detective in charge of Maruyama Aya’s missing person case. For safety purposes, you can call me Kouji. It is nice to meet you all.”

The girls all remained silent. 

Rolling with it, the man continued, “Though the specifics are highly classified as things stand, I have some very good news for you all that my higher ups have allowed me to share with you. We selected the few of you to be present since we know you are some of the closest people to Maruyama-san. As well as the fact that we trust you ladies to keep things relatively low key.” He gave them a pointed look at that. “Thus, I would like to inform you that, as of two days ago, we caught a blip of Maruyama-san’s cellphone.”

“What!?” the girls all burst out with variating levels of surprise and thrill. 

“Really!?” Eve cried out, clutching desperately at Maya’s shirt sleeve as Maya seemed to be fighting jumping out of her seat. 

“Kouji’ offered them a calm smile. “Yes. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it considering that it was only on for a  _ very _ tiny period of time. So we were having a hard time tracing it back for a bit. We managed to get an address, since Maruyama-san’s location was turned on. The culprit must have had her phone turned off for the past few weeks…” He clasped his arms behind his back. “Though we have no idea why the phone was turned back on, this is a huge lead in an otherwise cold case.”

“There’s hope?” Chisato murmured, entwining her fingers with Hina’s. 

“We certainly believe so,” Kouji answered. “Like I said, the specifics are very hush hush right now, so that’s all I can give you. I want you girls to continue with your efforts. If anything odd or suspicious pops up, you let us know so we can investigate. We’re still testing out the signal we got, but we wanted to give you the good news.”

Sayo cleared her throat. “Do you have the location?”

The man looked nervous. “Well… yes. Unfortunately, we can’t get a search warrant unless we have solid proof of suspicious behavior around the location. It will be under surveillance until we have gathered enough evidence to give us a proper chance to search. But it’s a start.”

Sayo felt conflicted as they left. 

The other girls were clearly overjoyed that they had  _ any _ news on the case. The detectives hadn’t been able to find any evidence or witnesses or  _ leads _ for weeks. Sayo was beginning to feel that all adults were incompetent, at that point. 

It was just hard to believe. She wasn’t entirely sure finding the cell phone signal was a good thing. Wasn’t convinced yet, at least. What if it was a false lead? What if the culprit had done that to throw police off of his scent?

Sayo glowered at the concrete.  _ It’s not good to think like that… _

She wondered if the culprit had read her messages that she’d sent Aya almost daily since her disappearance. Maybe he was getting a kick out of it. She looked down at her screen. 

_ Read: two days _

None of the other girls had mentioned their texts being read. This lead Sayo to believe whoever had been using Aya’s phone, now that they knew for sure that it had been turned on, if only for a few minutes, had deliberately opened Sayo’s texts and then turned the phone off once more. It was odd. She wanted to hope that maybe, for even the briefest of seconds, Aya was able to see her messages.

She didn’t stop thinking about it, even as the day slipped into another. And then another. And then one more, time dragging on. She walked into school as usual, trying her best to get through her morning routine. Until she saw a girl standing very close to Aya’s locker. 

It wasn’t odd in and of itself, but the girl was looking about, nervous. 

“Are you alright?” she asked, eyes narrowed and not looking unlike a predator. She glared as the girl squeaked in surprise, whipping around to face her. 

“Oh!” She blinked. “I’m okay!”

Sayo wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure about that?”

“Umm… yes?”

“What is your name?”

“Hayano Akemi!” the girl blurted, intimidated by Sayo’s intense gaze and notorious position as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. 

“And why on earth would be looking around Maruyama Aya’s locker if your last name is not even near hers?”

The girl stopped dead in her track, regarding Sayo in unveiled horror. Sayo slammed her arms on either side of the girl’s head, caging her in. 

“Answer me,” she growled out, demanding. 

“I-I-I!” she stuttered. “I’m sorry! I just… I-!”

“You just  _ what _ ? Are you trying to drop off letters? To a girl who isn’t even here?” Sayo snarled. “What’s your deal?”

“I haven’t even been  _ asked _ to drop off any more letters, okay!?”

Sayo blinked, owlish, as the girl’s words sunk in. 

“ _ Any MORE _ ?” 

Realizing what she had just said the girl’s eyes darted around, panicked. Sayo saw her swallow, nervous, as she opened and closed her mouth several times, closely resembling a koi fish.

Sayo heard the warning bell go off. 

She found herself never caring less about being late for class in her life.

Seeing as she wasn’t about to get out of this, the girl’s shoulders slumped. “Okay… I’m sorry. I… I’d been dropping off letters to Maruyama-senpai for a bit before she went missing. I didn’t know they were  _ bad- _ ”

“It was  _ you _ ?” Sayo nearly shrilled. 

“I didn’t write them!” she defended, trying to put her hands up to placate Sayo. “I just dropped them off! This man used to pay me to leave letters for her. Told me he was her agent or something!”

Sayo grabbed the girl by the wrist. “You’re coming with me.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Protesting, Akemi began digging her heels into the floor. “Aren’t we going to miss class-?”

“That has never mattered less than right now. You are going to confess to the police that you have been withholding information as a possible witness in the case of Maruyama Aya’s disappearance and you are going to be giving an account.”

The girl seemed to have found a little bravery. “Or what?” she demanded. 

Sayo stopped in her tracks, catching the girl off guard. She turned around, and looked her dead in the eye. Her expression could only be described as murderous. “I’ll kill you.”

Beginning her track once more, Sayo dragged her prey along with her, the girl no longer struggling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys are thinking! I love reading what everyone has to say~


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Only a few chapters left! How are we all feeling???

Aya was at her wit’s end.

It had been what felt like a month. Maybe it had been two months? She really had no way of telling. Maybe it hadn’t even been more than a week. Maybe it had been a year, now. Who was she to tell?

She was past the point of being able to sit still, compliant. Day in and day out she was so scared and worried. The only “bathing” she had been allowed had been rubbing a soapy sponge onto the exposed skin of her arms and legs under his watchful supervision. It was a godsend, the days he decided to bring a brush of any kind to drag through her tangled, unwashed hair. She cringed each time at how greasy it was getting. She was left to sit in this room, alone, for hours at a time. Left to just sit and stare at a wall. It gave her plenty of time to mill over her sorry situation, at least. 

Of course she felt stupid for getting herself into this situation. It was  _ her _ fault, after all. She couldn’t even feel sorry for herself, since she’d put herself there in the first place. If only she’d gone with Sayo that day. She could be at home with her parents and her sister… she could be goofing around with Hina while Chisato reprimanded them, even though they knew she was smiling all the same. Eve and Maya laughing along, getting ready to tune their equipment for practice. Aya could have been shopping with Lisa or Himari, getting ready for the new season’s fashions that the mall would likely be getting ready for. She could be with Sayo… getting to know her. Maybe holding her hand again… it was nice when they did it before.

But now, looking around this room, feeling the coarseness of the ropes against her wrists, it was likely she wouldn’t ever see any of her friends or family again. She didn’t know whether or not they were mourning over her, missing her, but she certainly was overwhelmed with her own longing for them. Aya cursed herself for being such a crybaby, but she couldn’t help as the familiar feeling of hot tears rolling down her cheeks settled in. 

And this was the state he found her in. As he entered, the man immediately saw her sobbing, and he rushed over. 

“Why are you doing this?” she gasped, almost gagging. “Why  _ me _ !? What did I do wrong?”

“Oh Aya-chan,” he said, lovingly, only making Aya’s skin crawl further. “I’m not trying to hurt you… I’m trying to  _ save _ you!”

Aya struggled to not pant as she felt the beginnings of a panic attack gather in the empty vessel of her chest. Her heart was too busy preoccupying her throat. 

“From…” she barely managed to get out, “save me from  _ what _ ?”

“Others I’ve loved have become tainted… They grow up, start  _ dating _ ,” he spat out, disgusted, his breathing ragged, “and even get married! Can you believe it, Aya-chan? They destroy their bodies and their youths by getting involved with sex and having children. That’s just the cycle those women fall into. How could they? How could they break the vows an idol makes, knowing they’re hurting so many people? They throw away all the wishes and love from their fans and for what? To pick a single man? To give birth to children who ruin their bodies?”

He slammed his fist down on the table by his side, aggressive, causing Aya to yelp out with the shock and fear she felt. 

Her heart nearly stopped as he approached, reaching out for her, roughly grasping her shoulders, fingers digging into the softness of her skin. 

“Aya-chan, you have to stay here forever!” he practically begged her. “You can’t become like those filthy women! You can’t ever let a man touch you!” 

He looked down at his own hands that grabbed her and immediately released himself. His expression twisted in apparent anguish as he brought his hands up into his fading hairline. “I’m so sorry, Aya-chan! I need to not touch you, as well…” He began muttering, almost to himself. “You’re just to look… not allowed to touch…”

Aya fought to keep the raging storm of emotions within her. She managed to get her breathing back to being level, and she was never more grateful for all of the singing lessons and breathing exercises she’d been taught than in that moment. Otherwise she would have likely given into her panic. Well, more so than she already had. She needed to get the situation back under control. 

“Mr…?” she breathed out, hesitant. 

He looked up at her, eyes glistening, with baited breath. As though whatever Aya was about to say next would be the most important words he would hear. 

“Don’t…” she steeled her resolve, “don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?” She offered a quivering, watery smile, hoping it was enough to placate this man’s wildly shifting emotions. He was safer to her - familiar territory, now - when he was calm. “You didn’t mean to touch me, but let’s just make sure it doesn’t happen again… okay?”

There was a pause of silence and Aya immediately fretted she’d overstepped whatever kind of control she had in this situation. 

At least, before he breathed out in relief, seemingly overjoyed. “Oh, Aya-chan, you’re such an angel… to forgive a fool like me for my sins.” He looked her over. “You know… I think it’s been rather cruel of me to keep you tied up like this…” he said, as though admitting a deep, dark secret. 

Aya felt a surge of hope. 

_ Okay, be an actress. Act like Chisato-chan! _

She shifted her wrists strategically, thrilled with herself as he seemed to follow her movements. Purposefully flinching, she also let out the tiniest of whimpers - not entirely for show. 

“Yeah…” she murmured. “They hurt…”

“Oh no!” he cried out, distressed. “You’ve been in pain?”

Finding more confidence in her act, Aya continued. “Yes… I didn’t want to say anything since I knew it would upset you…”

Immediately the man was upon her, causing a jolt of shock and fear to tear through her. He desperately began untying the knots confining her to the bed posts. He was practically sobbing as he did so, and Aya tried to ignore how the material dug deeper into her as he tugged at the ropes. 

The ropes fell loose and she felt relief as cool air hit the blistered, red flesh of her wrists. She didn’t move at first, afraid of this man changing his mind. 

“Please, Aya-chan, is there anything else I can do for you?” he almost prayed, his eyes fixed on her. 

_ Letting me go would be excellent…  _ she thought, dryly.  _ Not that it would be so easy…  _

“Umm…” Suddenly she was reminded of the fact she hadn’t been allowed to use the restroom since the previous day. “I… need to use the…”

“The toilet?” The man’s face was troubled. “I can’t get you upstairs, since my family is home…”

Aya sighed. 

“Oh, please don’t be disappointed! I’ll… I’ll make it happen, I promise!”

“Please…” She didn’t know if she trusted herself to hold it together, and she absolutely did  _ not _ want to have an accident with this grown man staring her down. God forbid she actually wet herself and this man try to change her clothes or anything of the sort. They’d managed to get this far without anything like that happening, after all. As much as she would have preferred to be allowed to shower and have clean clothes, she also, under no circumstances, wanted to know how much involvement this man would have with that. So she suffered it, silent.

The man nodded, a new resolve in his eyes. “Understood. I promise, I’ll find a way for you to have access to that. You deserve so much more than what I can give you, Aya-chan…”

Aya’s lip quivered as she held her breath. As she held her tongue, afraid of the backlash she would receive if she gave her thoughts on what  _ those _ words did for the anger that pooled in her belly. 

The man reached out, hesitant, as though to pat her head. She fought not to flinch and fought harder to not sag with relief as he quickly drew his hand away from her, not coming into contact. He shook his head to himself again before rushing out of the room. 

Her eyes widened as she saw his form retreat, locking the door behind him with a distinct  _ click _ sound. Her gaze immediately darted to where she knew her bag was. Did she dare leave the bed she hadn’t moved from without being under the man’s watchful stare, since the time he left her on accident?

Hesitant, she shifted her weight until she was at the edge of the mattress. 

She placed a foot down against the cool wooden floor. Then the other. Waiting for several minutes, still not hearing his return, she made her way over to her bag. 

For the second time she turned her phone on and felt immense relief as it turned on once more. She saw an unbelievable amount of text notifications from several apps as well as at least a hundred missed calls. She glanced back towards the stairs. She had to call the police. 

Aya knew if she talked, that might not go well. But… police might still respond to a silent line, wouldn’t they? She stared down at the device in her hands, feeling unsure. If the man knew the police were coming, she was afraid of what he would do to her. While she hadn’t ever seen him carry anything, it would be naive to think that man didn’t have any weapons around. 

But she had to. She knew she had to. She began tapping in 1… 1… just as she was about to press the “9” button, she heard the tell-tale sound of footsteps down the staircase. She gasped and turned off her phone as quickly as she could - or she hoped it turned off - tossing it back into her open bag. Just as she heard the rattling of the keys the man kept, she fought to find a neutral stretching position, trying to play it off like she’d been sore from sitting for so long - not that she needed to pretend for that. 

She saw the man gesture for her, and she confusedly walked over. 

“My wife and daughter are asleep. I told my wife I would be using the restroom; be quick. It’s this way.”

And, with that, Aya found herself making her way up the stairs. She’d done so before, in the weeks she’d been kept in this home. He would usually only bring her up to “take care of business” while his family were at out; whether it be school, work, or with friends. Or, like now, when they were both supposed to be asleep. 

She shuffled quietly after him, as he led her. He stopped in front of the door, and she went in, swiftly and silently. Her cheeks were flushed red as she relieved herself, hating it each and every time. Aya felt nothing but shame burn at her flesh whenever she had to carry this out with him directly on the other side of the door. But she was able to reason that this was the only way she would get access to a proper toilet. 

So, she sucked it up and got it over with. 

And she finished up and went right back to him. Until he walked her back downstairs and made sure she was sitting prim and proper in “her” bed. 

He glanced over, seeing her bag. “Ah. That’s no good.” 

Aya felt her heart drop as the man reached over to the bag, taking out her phone. He gave it a suspicious glance but shrugged it off as he pocketed it, nonchalantly cutting off any chances Aya had of escape. 

“Alright, Aya-chan. Goodnight! Behave.”

And, with that, he was gone - and Aya’s hope was taken with him. 

* * *

Apparently Hayano Akemi was even more of a little shit than Sayo had believed her to be. Not only had she been concealing information from the police after Aya’s disappearance; but she’d been doing so the entire time leading up to it. She’d delivered letters to Aya’s locker, home, workplaces, and more. Without ever thinking it was suspicious behavior and without ever notifying any sort of authority. 

Sayo was glad the girl was in police holding, or she was sure she’d have murdered the girl herself. 

_ Calm down, Sayo… _

She breathed in, held it for several seconds, and breathed it back out. Rationally, she knew mauling the girl like a rabid panther was no good. If she was out of commission, rather than just harmlessly detained, their chances at finding the culprit were much slimmer. 

But it almost didn’t even help!

She didn’t know where he lived. She didn’t know his actual name - the name he’d given her hadn’t come up when they searched for it. She didn’t know his age or his workplace. Nothing. The little bimbo had only taken the money, never asking any questions. 

Sayo was growing impatient. In these situations the first 48 hours were the most important; and they’d  _ long _ since passed that time frame. The chances of Maruyama Aya still being alive were slim to none after she was gone for  _ weeks _ , at this point. Sayo nearly choked on a sob. She couldn’t allow herself to sit there, thinking like that. 

So, instead, she paced. Thinking like that.

“Sayo…” Lisa worried from her own spot at the dining room table. “Please stop.”

“I can’t, Imai-san!”

Lisa chewed on her lip, keeping her retort to herself. Sayo felt a flash of irritation but swallowed it roughly, just as Lisa had. Lisa had been nothing but helpful and wonderful to Sayo and Hina, with Lisa somewhat taking over Hina’s care as Sayo spiraled further and further into her grief and worry. Though, the grief was starting to take over, as Sayo was less and less convinced that Maruyama Aya was safe from harm. 

“Sis…” Hina murmured, likely nervous from the tense energy in the room, from her spot next to Lisa. “Lisachi asked you to stop…”

Sayo slammed herself into a kitchen seat, across from them, startling Hina in the process at the sudden movement and sound. 

She felt immense guilt over basically hoisting Hina onto Lisa for the most part. She still did everything she was expected to, as Hina’s sister. But certainly without any cheer or patience as the days wore on. And she found herself relying on Lisa more and more. It was too hard… she wasn’t  _ there _ mentally; not enough to take care of Hina. 

They’d been waiting to hear the up-to-date police report for so long. They had hardly heard any news since they’d been called in the first time. And that was all Sayo could think of. 

_ If they try and tell me I can’t know what’s going on-! _

“Sayo…” Lisa sounded tired. So tired. “I know you’re worried. We’ll get the news as soon as they find something. Please… eat.”

Sayo glared down at the plate Lisa had made for her. 

How could she eat when she didn’t know if  _ Aya _ was being allowed to eat-

“Sayo!” Lisa snarled, trying to keep her voice low. “You’re not going to be any use to Aya if you keel over because you  _ chose _ to starve yourself! Eat the damn food!”

Sayo found herself gasping as her eyes widened at the out of character behavior Lisa was displaying. She choked back her storming emotions as she watched Lisa angrily tending to her food. Not before helping Hina cut hers into particularly sized pieces. 

Gulping her guilt, Sayo silently mimicked Lisa, tending to her own plate. 

“I…”

Lisa’s hardened stare subsided a bit. “I’m sorry for snapping. But, Sayo, I need you to take care of yourself. Please…?”

Sayo blinked, keeping the tears painfully at bay. “I’m sorry-”

“I know…” Lisa murmured. “I know.”

“Okay…” Sayo turned back to her food, taking a bit of Lisa’s warm home cooking as the three of them returned to relative silence, aside from the clinking of cutlery against porcelain plates. 

She felt another wave of shame as the comforting heat of the food sunk into her. Sayo knew she and Hina were taking Lisa away from her own priorities. Sayo was sure it’d been putting a strain on Lisa’s relationship with Yukina, too. 

Lisa had even been spending the night often… 

Sayo sighed. She’d have to apologize to Yukina, as well. 

It seemed like the list of people she’d have to apologize to was another thing that was growing as large as her anxiety. 

“Seriously,” Lisa continued, a tenderness to her voice that Sayo was all too familiar with at this point, “don’t worry about it, Sayo. I want to help, but I need you to let me.”

This only made Sayo want to apologize more. Instead, she murmured;

“Thank you…” 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming to a close y'all!!

Aya found that being unbound wasn’t too much better than being tied up. It was just as boring, being trapped in a room for hours on end. She was allowed a minifridge of bottled waters and small snacks, but that was about it. He’d only brought it down since he seemed to realize he wouldn’t have to rush home in a panic if she could simply stand up and feed herself. 

Which was something she found herself agreeing with, as she popped the top off of another bottle, relishing in the coolness of the water as it cascaded past her lips, quelling the itchy irritation of her throat. 

She grimaced at the feeling of her body as she shifted back towards the bed. On one hand, being trapped in a guy’s basement was apparently a great diet, as she noticed herself dropping in weight by the day. Though, it no longer felt like a good thing, after however many months it had been. Or, what she assumed to be months, based solely on context clues. She also felt herself losing muscle, which was irritating. She’d trained for so long to give her body the muscles and stamina it needed for idol work. 

Her irritation gave way to uncertainty.

Would… would she still be an idol after all this?

_ If I don’t get killed…  _

As far as she could see, there were only a few possibilities for how things would work out, given her current situation: 1.) she is kept alive, effectively hidden from the man’s family, and is thus forced to live with the man forever. Not appealing in the slightest. 2.) She is murdered by the man in order to get rid of any evidence of her being there. Or, alternatively, she’s dumped somewhere where she can’t get back. Neither are very great options, either. And, finally, the third option was getting out.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that one. 

Aya thought about her loved ones. Thought about her fans - the ones who wouldn’t do this sort of thing to her. The ones who actually looked up to her and saw her as a role model. She pondered her love for music. Her love for dancing, her love for her band, her love for her friends. 

_ Can I go back? _

She glanced at the lingering red rings around her wrists. 

_ I mean… it could be worse _ , she found herself thinking, to her eventual horror. She shouldn't even be considering herself  _ lucky _ that the man hadn’t raped her or touched her in a sexual manner of any sort since bringing her in under his roof. Honestly, she hadn’t even considered that under the list of possibilities for her captivity with just how fearful the man had seemed of touching her. Someone that afraid of physically touching or “ruining” her seemed very unlikely to “give in to the temptation.”

_ What if he  _ ** _does_ ** _ ? _

A familiar sinking, yet creeping sensation rippled across her spine, causing goose bumps to flutter up to the surface of her skin, the light hairs on her arms visibly standing up on end in her line of sight. 

“It’s no good to think like that…” Aya reminded herself. 

But it was still a possibility. As long as she was under this roof, locked away in this basement, being kept away from any other eyes… it was possible. It would always be possible; if the man was crazy enough to drug her and kidnap her, he was capable of so much worse. 

She couldn’t let herself forget that. 

Sure, he hadn’t done so before, since he was apparently terrified of her “becoming corrupted” or tainted by a man’s touch. So it wouldn’t make  _ sense _ for him to try and touch her like that. But Aya knew; it was very possible for someone like that to snap and give into an already very dangerous vice. She could already assume he’d killed someone, just to get his hands on her.

She very much didn’t want to see things get to that point. 

Not that she had all too much say in the matter, but she needed to be able to put up a fight. She needed to defend herself, somehow. She figured it was as good a time as any to begin searching the room for anything she could possibly fashion into a weapon. Of course the man didn’t leave any actual weapons lying around the room for her, so she’d have to be creative with whatever was there. 

It was hard to imagine one of her figures or promo hoodies being used as a weapon. Perhaps she could smother him with the wall scrolls? Cut with the decorative fans? She cracked a smile at that. It was silly. She found herself giggling a bit. And, before she knew it, she was full on belly laughing at the absurdity of her situation. Head thrown back as her throat burbled with fits of laughter.

“This is so not funny,” she said, as if reminded herself, doubling over in unrestrained hysterics. “It’s finally getting to me! I’ve gone insane.”

She sobered as she sat on the floor, feeling suddenly defeated. 

“What am I going to do…?” she wondered silently to herself. She stared up at the ceiling, feeling somewhat empty. “What if I die here…?” What if she never saw anyone she loved ever again? She smacked her cheeks. “No use thinking like that. It’s not gonna get me out of here, that’s for sure.”

She glanced over to the locked door. Aya was suddenly hit with a brilliant idea. She’d seen Hina demonstrating to Eve and Maya on multiple occasions how to pick a lock. Hina always had a new weird hobby or skill she was trying to learn, after all. To cope with being bored of knowing everything too quickly.

Maybe… just maybe-

_ That might just work…  _

“I don’t know how to pick a lock…” Aya murmured. She shrugged off her hesitance as she slipped a bobby pin out of her hair. “But I’m going to try my best.”

She slipped it in, like she’d seen Hina do. Though… Hina usually used an official looking lockpicking set, but Aya was in no such luck to have that sort of thing lying around for her in that moment. 

Shifting the lock around a bit inside for several minutes, she wasn’t getting anywhere, just like she’d thought. Aya kept at it, unwilling to give up. Until ten minutes later where she realized it was somewhat futile for her. Not that she had much faith in the prospect… She sighed, disappointed nonetheless. 

“Well… it was worth a shot.”

She started making her way over to her bed before stilling at the sound of steps coming down the staircase. Aya felt a sense of panic. She didn’t know the exact time, but it was way too early for the man to be home so soon. The wife and daughter must have still been out… but the footsteps were far too light to be the man’s. 

The sound of keys clinking around was followed by the gears of the lock turning and Aya stepped back, afraid, as the door swung open, lightly. 

She was confronted with a young girl, probably middle-school aged. Dark, long hair. Brown eyes.  _ His _ eyes. Identical to her captor. The eyes that widened with utter disbelief as she gazed upon Aya. 

_ This must be Mio… _ The man had only talked about his daughter to Aya every day that she’d lived there. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the same girl her captor spoke of.

Aya was frozen, a deer caught in headlights. 

The girl simply stared back, Aya’s own shock mirrored on her face. Neither girl moved for several seconds, trying their best to take in the situation without knowing how to handle what they were each seeing. 

Aya glanced past the girl, checking to see if the man was coming, breaking eye contact with this new person. 

This seemed to shake the girl from her stupor. “Oh my  _ god. _ You-! You’re-! You’re Aya-chan! You’re Maruyama Aya-chan! The idol!”

Aya swallowed, thick, not trusting herself to speak. She nodded. 

“Oh my  _ god _ !” The keys fell with a loud, ungodly clatter to the floor, causing Aya to wince. “I just wanted to see if my dad had my transcripts in here for my high school application… what… you’re-” she began stammering. “You- you’re… You’re missing!”

Aya managed to laugh, very weakly. “I’m… yeah… I guess so?” 

The girl rushed forward, her hands grasping Aya’s arms, keeping her in place, as though she were afraid Aya would turn to smoke and disappear; as if she were a mere illusion, the girl being unable to comprehend her idol’s physical form being in the same room as her. “Why? What on earth are you doing locked in my basement? How long have you been here? Oh my god-”

“The whole time,” Aya coughed out. “I’ve… been here for a long time. I…” she thought for a moment. “I don’t know  _ how _ long, exactly, though-”

Fighting through her panicked state, the girl took in the sight of the room. All the figures, posters, memorabilia. She looked ill. 

“Was…” she murmured. “Was it my dad? Did he do this?”

Aya shrugged. “If that man is your father, then… yeah. But-”

The girl’s breathing picked up. “My dad is the only man who lives in our house.”

Aya remained silent, watching as a plethora of emotions cast on and off of the girl’s features. She clutched at her head, her hair, tugging in frustration. 

“This is  _ not _ happening…”

Aya felt to blame for this girl’s struggle. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” the girl’s attention zipped to her. “What on earth are  _ you  _ sorry for? My… You were kidnapped and put in my house.  _ My _ house! Without me or my mom noticing! We were wondering what he was spending so much time down there for and didn't even  _ question _ why he told us never to come down here-”

“In your defense,” Aya sighed, “I never made much of a ruckus, either.”

The girl shook her head. “No, it’s better you didn’t… I mean, my dad isn’t a violent man-” she cut herself off seeing the rope burns on Aya’s wrists. “Or I thought he wasn’t… but I guess I don’t know him as well as I thought-”

There sounded like some sort of movement from upstairs. The girl gasped and Aya felt alarm strike her, deep within her chest. 

“Is that him?” she whispered.

The girl looked confused. “It’s way too early for him to be here.” She went to the doorway. “Mom?” she called out. 

The voice of a woman responded, “Mio? You’re home?”

“Mom!” Mio called again, breathing a huge sigh of relief. The girl rushed up the stairs, babbling and screaming. 

Aya stayed put. She stared at her lap, terrified of what this woman would say or do to her for diverting her husband’s attention away from her. This would probably ruin their marriage…

“Oh my-!” Aya’s head snapped up as she saw a beautiful woman in the doorway. Her hand covered her mouth as she looked at Aya with what seemed to be sorrow. “There’s… no way…”

A voice behind her said, “Mom, we have to call the cops.”

“But your father-”

“... I know, but mom-!”

The woman turned on her heel and briskly ran up the staircase once more, the sharp clicking of her short stilettos causing Aya to flinch. Mio peered back in, before darting up the stairs again. The door was left wide open and Aya didn’t know what to do. Should she make a break for it? Should she wait for the two of them to do whatever it was they were doing? Before she could simmer further into her thoughts, Mio rushed back in with a tray of food and water. 

“Have you eaten today?”

Aya peered at the tray. “No…” she admitted. The man had been running late to work and had no time to prepare food or try and grab extra from his wife and daughter that morning. 

“Eat, then,” the girl ordered. Aya could see her visibly shaking, and she thought that this girl was extremely brave. “Mom is… calling the authorities right now.” Aya felt her heart soar at the news. Mio looked at Aya’s filthy clothes. “Have… you changed?”

“No…” It wasn’t wrong; those were the clothes he’d brought her there in. He was too afraid of her clothes being mingled in with his family’s, after all. 

“Shit…” the girl cursed, covering her mouth after. “Sorry. I’ll bring you some extra clothes of mine. I don’t know if they’ll fit, but-”

“No, it’s… alright.”

“But it’s not!” Mio insisted. “We should have-”

Aya placed a trembling hand on the girl’s shoulder, guiding her over to the bed and setting the two of them at the edge of it. She gave a reassuring squeeze as the younger girl’s frame shook against her. “There’s a lot of things that could have or should have gone different about the situation… please don’t take it too badly.”

The girl was fighting back tears as she nodded. 

Aya felt terribly sorry for the girl. The man had told her his daughter was right around high school age. Probably just about to take her entrance exams. She looked so young and scared to Aya in that moment. And then Aya remembered this girl was her  _ fan _ . 

“Do you remember the handshake event?”

“Huh?” The girl looked up at her, her face watery and quivering. 

“The handshake event.” Aya smiled. “I remember you… you were telling me how you wanted to learn how to sing and that you would start taking dance lessons. You said you best friend thought you were crazy, but you two bonded over Pastel*Palettes.”

Mio looked at her in disbelief. “How… there were so many people there.” She wiped at her eyes roughly as she sat up straighter on the bed. “How could you possibly have remembered that?”

Aya giggled a bit at that, tucking a strand of unfortunately greasy hair behind her ear. “Well… I love all of my fans, you know? You all took a day out of your lives to come see me. I was very happy when you told me those things.”

“Aya-chan… 

Aya swiped a gentle finger across Mio’s cheeks, wiping away the tears. “You’re very brave. I’m glad I have fans like you; it makes it all worth it.”

The girl began sobbing again, burying her face into Aya’s shoulder. 

She could barely hear a muffled voice. “How can you even say that right now? Aren’t you angry? Aren’t you going to quit?”

Aya let out a startled laugh. “I’m sorry… I don’t mean to not take this seriously,” she corrected at Mio’s incredulous look. “I can’t quit… we might take a bit of time off to deal with the scandal… oh gosh, this is going to be troublesome for the agency…” Aya wrung her hands in her lap. “But… unless our manager and higher ups want us to disband, I don’t plan on throwing in the towel anytime soon. That’s my one redeeming quality, you know? Never giving up.”

As they heard the faint sound of police sirens, the girl and Aya shared a small, nervous smile. Mio helped Aya get up the steps as they met the swarm of concerned officers upstairs. 

* * *

Sayo was in class. Another day. Another drawling, hazy day. 

She tried paying attention to her history teacher prattling on and on about the feudal era and how important the information was for their final exams. She really did try, but… Sayo hadn’t even been thinking of college or her career choices, her career slip going uncharacteristically blank. Though, her teachers had been rather lenient with her due to knowing the circumstances behind her slacking. The same was true for some of the others, as well. 

The final bell of the day rang, cutting off her teacher’s riveting lecture. 

Sayo began making her way towards band practice. Yukina was insistent on continuing with Roselia’s activities and Sayo didn’t want to fall behind either… though she felt some remorse at putting more focus on the band. She knew that’s what the others wanted; to take her mind off of Aya for even just a second. Even if she was just going through the motions. 

She was at CiRCLE before she realized. Making her way inside, she was greeted by her bandmates. Sayo waved to them, acknowledging them, before beginning her tuning process. Muscle memory. Just getting through another practice before she could go home and go to sleep. And then wake up again feeling unfulfilled. Another round of the cycle. 

“Sayo,” Yukina wandered over. “Are you ready?”

“Ready as ever,” she mumbled in response, preparing her pick. Just as her phone began ringing and vibrating loudly.

_ What on earth…? _

“I apologize,” she said to her friends as she picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“ _ Hikawa Sayo?” _

She flinched at the strange voice saying her name. 

“Who is this?”

“This is one of the officers with Detective Kouji. We’ve received major news with the case and your presence has been requested at the meeting being held-”

“What? What meeting? What news?” Sayo demanded, feeling panicked. “At the police station-?” The other girls stared at her, trying to make sense of the situation. 

“I cannot divulge that to you over the phone. If you cannot get here, we can arrange means for-”

Lisa’s phone rang, then. 

“Kaoru? What is-?” Lisa went quiet, listening, as the police officer kept talking. 

“Do you believe you’ll need an escort?”

“I- I don’t-” Sayo stuttered, feeling unsure. 

“Sayo,” Lisa cut her off, “Kokoro is giving us a ride. We’ve got to go.”

“What in the world is happening?” she hissed.

Lisa began shoving her equipment into their containers, packing her bags. “Kaoru says she and the Hello Happy girls are on their way to a meeting for Aya or something like that. They’re picking us up.”

Sayo barely registered hanging up on the officer as she gathered her things, as well, nearly bolting from the room and into the hallway, barely refraining from running. 

_ Aya! _

There was an ache in Sayo’s chest. 

Did something happen? Sayo felt her lungs burning as she began briskly walking alongside Yukina and Lisa as they caught up with her, Ako desperately pulling Rinko along behind them.

“Do you think-?”

“I don’t know,” Sayo answered before Rinko could finish. “I have no idea.”

They offered an apology, if not a swift one, to Marina as they quickly exited the building. They saw the giant limousine of Tsurumaki Kokoro as Suits began rushing them inside the open doors. 

“What in the world is going on?” Sayo grumbled as they were ushered in, plopping in a seat nearby Misaki. 

“No clue,” Misaki shrugged, though she looked as nervous as Sayo felt. “They won’t tell us if it’s good or bad news. Chisato called Kanon-san a little bit ago.” She gestured over to her aforementioned band mate. 

Kanon was playing with her hands in her lap, most likely unsure what to do with any sort of anxiety she was dealing with. 

“Yeah… we were practicing at Kokoro-chan’s house when my phone started ringing...”

Lisa nodded. “So were we…”

Kokoro and Hagumi were unusually quiet as they stared out the window of the vehicle, watching the landscape rolling by. 

The rest of the drive was painfully quiet as all the girls simply waited to arrive. And, as they did, they were escorted into the building, until they reached a very large room. Sayo saw the girls from Poppin’ Party and Afterglow, as well as the four remaining Pastel*Palettes girls. There were a lot of family members as well, Sayo spotting the Maruyama family in the opposite corner. 

“Sis!” Hina darted over to her, throwing her arms around her sister. 

Sayo balanced them, planting her feet firmly on the ground, as she returned her sister’s embrace. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Hina pulled back to look at her. “Are  _ you _ ?”

Sayo took a shaky breath to try and steady herself. “That’s… going to depend on whatever we were called in here for.”

It wasn’t long before the same man from before entered the room and all the girls and their families went quiet, staring at him expectantly. 

“Hello, folks,” he greeted. “We have received a major update in the Maruyama Aya case today.” No one dared to say anything as he paused. “We gathered you all as soon as we could; this information is not public yet, but you are all some of the closest people to Miss Maruyama, so we wanted you to be here for this.”

Sayo’s heart felt like it wasn’t beating. She couldn’t relax, even as the man offered them all a smile. Lisa’s firm hand on her shoulder and Hina’s death grip on her wrist were the only things keeping her rooted to reality. 

“We received a phone call from the home we had been staking out in our investigation.” Everyone waited with baited breath. “It seems we were absolutely correct; Miss Maruyama was found today.”

The room erupted into cheers and gasps, the girls all clinging to each other with thrill and disbelief. Her attention was immediately on Aya’s mother openly sobbing against her husband, her other daughter squealing with delight. 

Her own heart simply beat once. Then twice. And again, and again, and again - like it was supposed to. She felt her face scrunch up as the wetness of tears built up in her eyes, barely registering the feeling of Lisa and Hina throwing themselves around her, weepy smiles and shaky laughter rippling through the gathered crowd. 

Detective Kouji smiled at all of them, patiently waiting for the excited buzz to calm somewhat before continuing. “Yes! It’s excellent news. She is alive and well, as far as we are currently aware. She was escorted to our department and is currently with a trained physician. Visitation will only be offered to the family as of right now, and any further progress towards more open visits will be determined by how Miss Maruyama feels.”

Sayo buried her face into Lisa’s shoulder, not wanting to show her face twisted with emotions she didn’t know were possible. 

_ She’s alive… she’s alive! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO um I don't entirely know how it works when people get found/how their families find out so pls bear with my imagination.


	12. Chapter 12

Sayo had never visited someone under police surveillance or protection before. She’d visited hospitals, sure, but this was very different. It was decided that a large scale hospital was too public and that too many reporters and paparazzi would be skulking about for a story, for even a snippet of gossip. Thus, they decided to house her at a small clinic under police jurisdiction.

It had been just barely over a week since Aya was recovered, and the media was abuzz with the news. It felt like Sayo couldn’t turn on any tv channel or radio station without hearing Maruyama Aya’s name. She’d been missing for months at that point and the general populous’ shock and horror grew as more and more information was being released. 

Sayo had never been more disgusted in her life than seeing anything involving the man who did it. She felt nothing but pity for his family - apparently innocent in the whole ordeal, only due to Aya’s account. However… Sayo sincerely hoped the man rotted away in prison for the rest of his life for what he’d done to Aya and the people who cared for her. 

Sayo bunched the bouquet of flowers in her clenched fists, nervous. Not wanting to hurt the flowers, she untensed her hands as Hina babbled next to her while the two of them walked. Hina had been alight with life after Aya’s return, making huge leaps towards recovery from the dour energy she’d been carrying around with her. She and the other Pastel*Palettes girls had been some of the first people allowed to see Aya within the first few days. Sayo considered herself extremely privileged to be one of the visitors soon after them. 

She didn’t know what to expect. Movies and stories made kidnappings sound extremely traumatic, the victims becoming damaged and catatonic in some cases. Hina said that wasn’t always the case, but Sayo found it very hard to believe she was just going to come out of a situation like this unscathed, no matter what the detectives said. Though apparently a counselor or therapist of some kind had been working with her… Sayo found it difficult to believe that she wouldn’t need that sort of help for the rest of her life.

“People generally come out the same shape they went in. Maybe a bit jumpier. More paranoid, perhaps.”

It left a bitter taste in Sayo’s mouth.

Still, her own heart was aflutter with excitement and joy as she and Hina made their way through the halls. The guards there nodded in acknowledgement, not making any moves to stop them as Hina tittered and waved. Knowing her, she’d likely befriended them and won them over within moments of being in the building.

Before Sayo knew it, they were in front of the door. 

_ Maruyama Aya _ read the name plaque.

Sayo hesitated in front of it, suddenly feeling unsure. 

“Sis,” Hina gently put a hand against Sayo’s lower back, “it’s gonna be good. She wants to see you. She  _ really _ wants to see you… I promise.”

Sayo gulped. She had to be ready. “Of course.”

Letting Hina enter first, Sayo lingered behind for a heartbeat. Her heart was nearly in her mouth as it leaped into her throat at the sight of Aya for the first time in almost half a year, cascaded in the faintest of daylight from her window, angelic and radiant. Aya turned to smile so brightly at Hina’s entrance that Sayo thought she might go blind.

“Hina-chan!”

Oh! Oh… that syrupy sweet voice… Sayo felt her eyes prick at the sound of warmth that had been regretfully missing from her life for far too long. 

Her sister and Aya giggled - even more music to her ears - for a second before Aya caught Sayo’s gaze. She went still for a moment, and Sayo was suddenly terrified that she was an unwelcome presence. Before Aya brought her hands, shaking, up to cover her mouth as her lovely complexion twisted with raw emotion.

Sayo bolted forward as tears gathered in Aya’s eyes. She cupped both of Aya’s cheeks into her hands. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? What do you need?” she gasped her questions, desperately needing to take whatever pain Aya was feeling away from her. 

“Sayo-chan!” Aya sobbed, her hands reaching around Sayo’s own wrists. “I’m so sorry!” 

“Sorry?” Sayo said, incredulous. “What on earth are  _ you  _ sorry for?”

“I’m sorry I left without telling you!” Aya gasped out. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you! I’m so sorry… you must have been so worried… I-I-”

Sayo simply brought her hand to rest behind Aya’s head, pulling her into an embrace. “You… you’re something else.” She felt her chest constrict as she couldn’t keep herself from chuckling. “I absolutely was worried. But you’re safe, so that means my prayers were answered.”

“I was so scared…” Aya admitted, a quiet mewl against Sayo’s neck as Sayo brought her forehead against Aya’s. “I wanted to see you every day-”

“It’s okay,” Sayo murmured, not even realizing Hina had backed out of the room. “I wanted to see you too… But I’m here…  _ you’re _ here.”

“Please don’t leave,” she begged. “Don’t leave me…”

The emptiness of Sayo’s chest cavity bloomed with pink camellias, her cheeks touched with the faintness of possible morning dew. “Never,” she breathed. 

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

Aya’s hands clutched against her, desperate, holding her in place. As though she would vanish - a fleeting daydream - if she were to even think about letting her go. As Sayo shifted next to her, she silently noted the wetness on the front of her shirt from Aya’s tears, ignoring the fact that her own face was dappled with unfiltered and open emotion. 

“I know…” Sayo murmured, hand absently stroking Aya’s hair. Smooth and soft, unfair. “I often found myself thinking the same thing… it broke my heart. I’m just glad you’re safe. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost you.”

“I missed you.”

Sayo simply pressed her lips to Aya’s temple, not courageous enough to try and speak past the claustrophobia of her throat, suddenly clenching with grief. 

“Thank you.” Aya wiped gently at her eyes, smiling up at her. “I’m sorry for crying on you…”

Sayo didn’t answer. At least, verbally. She snuck Aya’s hand into hers, enjoying the warmth of her palm against hers. Missing that warmth every day since it left her. She frowned at the redness of her wrists, but decided not to comment. Sayo wanted those days as far away from them as possible. 

She felt Aya shift and lean against her, head on her shoulder. And her heart jolted, feeling her face heat up. Embarrassed at her face possibly being red, she shifted to look the other way. 

Aya didn’t speak. Neither did Sayo. 

They knew they didn’t need to fill the silence between them. Sayo was relieved that she could have a comfortable quiet with someone, like this. 

“Hina will worry,” Sayo tried, though Aya didn’t move. 

“Hina-chan has been with me every day for a week,” Aya asserted. “She’ll be okay.”

Sayo didn’t trust herself like this. “I… may do something inappropriate if Hina doesn’t come back-”

Aya simply looked at her, eyelids half closed, cutting off Sayo’s breath. As if she  _ wanted _ Sayo to do something. “I  _ really _ missed you…”

“I-” Sayo gulped. “I missed you too.”

Sayo’s eyes fluttered closed as Aya’s hand pressed against her knee, giving her leverage as she kissed Sayo’s lips, the feeling of petals against her. Soft and sweet and  _ there _ . Aya was  _ there _ in front of her. This wasn’t a dream. 

Sayo’s hand desperately reached up into Aya’s hair, keeping her there. Just as afraid of her suddenly being  _ gone.  _

She breathed out a sob against Aya’s throat as she parted, shaky and rough. 

“I’m sorry,” Aya simply murmured, holding her. “I just feel safe with you. Like nothing bad can happen.”

“Don’t apologize for that,” Sayo mumbled. “ _ Never _ apologize for that _ .” _

“Still…” Aya sighed. “I’ll try and keep the apologizing to a minimum, then.”

Sayo nodded, parting to look her in the eyes. Aya smiled as Sayo kissed the very tips of her fingers, warm and languid. Sayo felt a swirling of something in her abdomen, flittering about in her ribcage, desperate to escape. Instead, she smiled back, and said; 

“Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something warm and sweet to end this roller coaster on! I really hope everyone enjoyed this little journey/experiment of mine and I can only hope I managed to write some decent suspense for my first time trying it. I want to say a huge thank you to all of those who have been with me from the start and for anyone who has enjoyed this story!

**Author's Note:**

> So...? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? I'd love to know what you all thought! Feel free to leave any comments or critiques!


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